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Background: Lodging is one of the important factors causing maize yield. Plant height is an important factor in determining plant architecture in maize (Zea mays L.), which is closely related to lodging resistance under high planting density. Coronatine (COR), which is a phytotoxin and produced by the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, is a functional and structural analogue of jasmonic acid (JA)., Results: In this study, we found COR, as a new plant growth regulator, could effectively reduce plant height and ear height of both hybrids (ZD958 and XY335) and inbred (B73) maize by inhibiting internode growth during elongation, thus improve maize lodging resistance. To study gene expression changes in internode after COR treatment, we collected spatio-temporal transcriptome of inbred B73 internode under normal condition and COR treatment, including the three different regions of internode (fixed, meristem and elongation regions) at three different developmental stages. The gene expression levels of the three regions at normal condition were described and then compared with that upon COR treatment. In total, 8605 COR-responsive genes (COR-RGs) were found, consist of 802 genes specifically expressed in internode. For these COR-RGs, 614, 870, 2123 of which showed expression changes in only fixed, meristem and elongation region, respectively. Both the number and function were significantly changed for COR-RGs identified in different regions, indicating genes with different functions were regulated at the three regions. Besides, we found more than 80% genes of gibberellin and jasmonic acid were changed under COR treatment., Conclusions: These data provide a gene expression profiling in different regions of internode development and molecular mechanism of COR affecting internode elongation. A putative schematic of the internode response to COR treatment is proposed which shows the basic process of COR affecting internode elongation. This research provides a useful resource for studying maize internode development and improves our understanding of the COR regulation mechanism based on plant height.

Coronatine (COR) is a phytotoxin produced by Pseudomonas syringae and is a functional analogue of the bioactive hormone JA-Ile, which is widely involved in plant defence responses. In this study, we explored the effects of exogenous applications of COR on tobacco plants under polyethylene glycol-induced drought stress. Compared with control (CK), COR-treated tobacco plants exhibited higher leaf relative water content and better photosynthetic performance under drought exposure. Ultrastructural examination revealed that drought led to stomatal closure and disorganization of granum stacking in the chloroplasts (with obvious accumulation of plastoglobuli), and mitochondria in the CK samples presented injured cristae. In the leaf tissue of the COR-treated plants, regularly stacked granum thylakoids, few plastoglobuli and intact mitochondrial membranes and cristae were observed. Totals of 1803 and 6207 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the samples from the COR-treated and CK plants under well-watered and drought conditions. Functional annotation analysis revealed that these DEGs were involved mainly in plant hormone signal transduction, cellular carbohydrate metabolic processes and photosynthesis processes. Six hundred forty transcription factor genes were also identified among the DEGs. This study provides a global view of COR-induced drought stress tolerance in tobacco from both physiological and transcriptional aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronatine (COR) is a phytotoxin produced by Pseudomonas syringae . Its structure is similar to those of jasmonates (JAs), which play diverse roles in multiple plant biotic and abiotic defenses. However, the biological activity of COR is 1000 times greater than the activity of JA. In addition to being involved in the JA pathway, COR affects plant photosynthetic efficiency. In this study, we examined wheat blade pretreatment with COR. Blades treated with COR remained green longer than those of control plants under drought stress conditions, resulting in less yield loss with COR treatment. To investigate the mechanism of COR in drought resistance further, we employed two-dimensional gel electrophoresis technology and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry to sequester and identify key proteins. Six COR-inducible proteins that are located in the chloroplast and involved directly in photosynthesis were found. The wheat homologue of protein gi|326509937 is degradation of periplasmic proteins 1 (DEGP1) in Arabidopsis , which is a response to photosystem II reparation, and was maintained at a low level with COR treatment. Finally, we measured levels of chlorophyll and photosynthetic performance to reveal the phenotypic effect of COR. Taken together, the results demonstrate that COR enhances drought tolerance by maintaining high photosynthetic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronatine (COR) is a phytotoxin produced by the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, it has a structure similar to that of jasmonates (JAs), but it is much more active as a plant growth regulator. The goal of this study was to gain more insight into the effect and the mechanism of COR effects on stalk characteristics are related lodging resistance of maize. The agronomic traits, stalk ultrastructure, and endogenous hormones in maize stalks were studied in field trails and greenhouses, using hybrid cultivar "Xianyu 335" (XY335), "Zhengdan 958" (ZD958) and inbred line B73 as materials in 2018 and 2019. Different concentration of COR were sprayed onto maize foliar surfaces at the seven-expanded-leaves (V7) stage. Foliar application with 10 µmol L−1 of COR at the V7 stage decreased plant and ear height, increased weight and diameter of the basal internodes, and increased penetration strength and stalk bending resistance. Compared to the control treatment, in COR-treated plants, salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) were decreased significantly in stalks. The treatment of 10 µmol L−1 of COR enhanced lignin accumulation, the integrity, and the thickness of cell walls in maize stalks in the early stages of stem growth in the inbred line B73, as revealed by autofluorescence microscopy and scanning electron micrographs. Our results indicated that COR improved stalk bending resistance of maize not only by optimizing stalk morphological characteristics, but also by altering hormone levels, which may led to greater lignin accumulation, thickens cell wall, and decreased the area of vascular bundles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronatine (COR) is a phytotoxin produced by Pseudomonas syringae. Its structure is similar to Jasmonates, which play a number of diverse roles in plant defense. Both have the COI1 plant receptor, so coronatine can manipulate plant hormone signaling to access nutrients and counteract defense responses. In addition to the hormone system, coronatine affects plant nitrogenous metabolism and chloroplast ultrastructure. In this study, we first examined a typical nitrogen-losing phenotype, and used the polyacrylamide gel approach to demonstrate soluble total protein patterns in a time-course experiment under different temperature conditions. We then employed dimensional gel electrophoresis technology (2-DE) and MALDI-TOF-MS to sequester and identify the sensitive proteins. We found a total of 27 coronatine sensitive proteins, 22 of which were located in the chloroplast and 6 of which were directly involved in photosynthesis. Finally, we measured levels of chlorophyll and photosynthetic performance to reveal the phenotypic effect of these proteins. Taken together, these results demonstrated that coronatine enhanced heat tolerance by regulating nitrogenous metabolism and chloroplast ultrastructure to maintain photosynthetic performance and reduce yield loss under heat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]