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ORCID IDs: 0000-0002-6288-7917 (Y.J.); 0000-0002-5972-7963 (C.-Z.J.); 0000-0002-3866-0894 (C.M.); 0000-0002-9285-2539 (J.G.).In many plant species, including rose (Rosa hybrida), flower senescence is promoted by the gaseous hormone ethylene and inhibited by the cytokinin (CTK) class of hormones. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these antagonistic effects are not well understood. In this study, we characterized the association between a pathogenesis-related PR-10 family gene from rose (RhPR10.1) and the hormonal regulation of flower senescence. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR analysis showed that RhPR10.1 was expressed at high levels during senescence in different floral organs, including petal, sepal, receptacle, stamen, and pistil, and that expression was induced by ethylene treatment. Silencing of RhPR10.1 expression in rose plants by virusinduced gene silencing accelerated flower senescence, which was accompanied by a higher ion leakage rate in the petals, as well as increased expression of the senescence marker gene RhSAG12. CTK content and the expression of three CTK signaling pathway genes were reduced in RhPR10.1-silenced plants, and the accelerated rate of petal senescence that was apparent in the RhPR10.1-silenced plants was restored to normal levels by CTK treatment. Finally, RhHB6, a homeodomain-Leu zipper I transcription factor, was observed to bind to the RhPR10.1 promoter, and silencing of its expression also promoted flower senescence. Our results reveal an ethylene-induced RhHB6-RhPR10.1 regulatory module that functions as a brake of ethylenepromoted senescence through increasing the CTK content.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are unstable reactive molecules that are toxic to cells. Regulation of ROS homeostasis is crucial to protect cells from dysfunction, senescence and death. In plant leaves, ROS are mainly generated from chloroplasts and are tightly temporally restricted by the circadian clock. However, little is known about how ROS homeostasis is regulated in non-photosynthetic organs, such as petals. Here, we showed that H2O2 levels exhibit typical circadian rhythmicity in rose (Rosa hybrida) petals, consistent with the measured respiratory rate. RNA-seq and functional screening identified a B-box gene, RhBBX28, whose expression was associated with H2O2 rhythms. Silencing RhBBX28 accelerated flower senescence and promoted H2O2 accumulation at night in petals, while overexpression of RhBBX28 had the opposite effects. RhBBX28 influenced the expression of various genes related to respiratory metabolism, including the TCA cycle and glycolysis, and directly repressed the expression of SUCCINATE DEHYDROGENASE 1, which plays a central role in mitochondrial ROS homeostasis. We also found that PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR8 (RhPIF8) could activate RhBBX28 expression to control H2O2 levels in petals and thus flower senescence. Our results indicate that the circadian- controlled RhPIF8-RhBBX28 module is a critical player that controls flower senescence by governing mitochondrial ROS homeostasis in rose.

Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 2 (GLRaV-2) p24 has been reported to be an RNA silencing suppressor (RSS). However, the mechanisms underlying p24's suppression of RNA silencing are unknown. Using Agrobacterium infiltration-mediated RNA silencing assays, we showed that GLRaV-2 p24 is a strong RSS triggered by positive-sense green fluorescent protein (GFP) RNA, and that silencing suppression by p24 effectively blocks the accumulation of small interfering RNAs. Deletion analyses showed that the region of amino acids 1-188, which contains all predicted α-helices and β-strands, is required for the RSS activity of p24. Hydrophobic residues I35/F38/V85/V89/W149 and V162/L169/L170, previously shown to be critical for p24 self-interaction, are also crucial for silencing suppression, and western blotting results suggested that a lack of self-interaction ability results in decreased p24 accumulation in plants. The mutants showed greatly weakened or a lack of RSS activity. Substitution with two basic residues at positions 2 or 86, putatively involved in RNA binding, totally abolished the RSS activity of p24, suggesting that p24 uses an RNA-binding strategy to suppress RNA silencing. Our results also showed that W54 in the WG/GW-like motif (W54/G55) is crucial for the RSS activity of p24, whereas p24 does not physically interact with AGO1 of Nicotiana benthamiana. Furthermore, p24 did not promote AGO1 degradation, but significantly up-regulated AGO1 mRNA expression, and this effect was correlated with the RSS activity of p24, indicating that p24 may interfere with microRNA-directed processes. The presented results contribute to our understanding of viral suppression of RNA silencing and the molecular mechanisms underlying GLRaV-2 infection.

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BackgroundFlower opening is an important process in the life cycle of flowering plants and is influenced by various endogenous and environmental factors. Our previous work demonstrated that rose (Rosa hybrida) flowers are highly sensitive to dehydration during flower opening and the water recovery process after dehydration induced ethylene production rapidly in flower gynoecia. In addition, this temporal- and spatial-specific ethylene production is attributed to a transient but robust activation of the rose MAP KINASE6-ACC SYNTHASE1 (RhMPK6-RhACS1) cascade in gynoecia. However, the upstream component of RhMPK6-RhACS1 is unknown, although RhMKK9 (MAP KINASE KINASE9), a rose homologue of Arabidopsis MKK9, could activate RhMPK6 in vitro. In this study, we monitored RhMKK2/4/5/9 expression, the potential upstream kinase to RhMPK6, in rose gynoecia during dehydration and rehydration.ResultsWe found only RhMKK9 was rapidly and strongly induced by rehydration. Silencing of RhMKK9 significantly decreased rehydration-triggered ethylene production. Consistently, the expression of several ethylene-responsive genes was down regulated in the petals of RhMKK9-silenced flowers. Moreover, we detected the DNA methylation level in the promoter and gene body of RhMKK9 by Chop-PCR. The results showed that rehydration specifically elevated the DNA methylation level on the RhMKK9 gene body, whereas it resulted in hypomethylation in its promoter.ConclusionsOur results showed that RhMKK9 possibly acts as the upstream component of the RhMKK9-RhMPK6-RhACS1 cascade and is responsible for water recovery-triggered ethylene production in rose gynoecia, and epigenetic DNA methylation is involved in the regulation of RhMKK9 expression by rehydration.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-017-0999-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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. Fusarium oxysporum is a soil-borne fungus that infects soybean roots and causes soybean root rot, a widespread and destructive soybean disease. The potential strain X6 belonged to Bacillus subtilis for controlling soybean root rot. And antagonistic mechanism of the pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum of soybean root rot by B. subtilis X6 was investigated. The antagonistic mechanism of strain X6 againt F. oxysporum can effectively inhibit mycelial growth, spores bearing and germination. After treated with metabolic product of strain X6, protoplast from the hyphae became abnormal. The activity effect of metabolic product of strain X6 was sensitive to temperature. So the study lay the groundwork for further research and application.