SKIP Silencing Decreased Disease Resistance Against Botrytis cinerea and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 in Tomato.

SKIP, a component of the spliceosome, is involved in numerous signaling pathways. However, there is no direct genetic evidence supporting the function of SKIP in defense responses. In this paper, two SKIPs , namely, SlSKIP1a and SlSKIP1b , were analyzed in tomato. qRT-PCR analysis showed that the SlSKIP1b expression was triggered via Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) DC3000 and Botrytis cinerea (B. cinerea), together with the defense-associated signals. In addition, the functions of SlSKIP1a and SlSKIP1b in disease resistance were analyzed in tomato through the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technique. VIGS-mediated SlSKIP1b silencing led to increased accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), along with the decreased expression of defense-related genes (DRGs) after pathogen infection, suggesting that it reduced B. cinerea and Pst DC3000 resistance. There was no significant difference in B. cinerea and Pst DC3000 resistance in TRV- SlSKIP1a -infiltrated plants compared with the TRV- GUS -silencing counterparts. As suggested by the above findings, SlSKIP1b plays a vital role in disease resistance against pathogens possibly by regulating the accumulation of ROS as well as the expression of DRGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]