VIGS-mediated forward genetics screening for identification of genes involved in nonhost resistance

Nonhost disease resistance of plants against bacterial pathogens is controlled by complex defense pathways. Understanding this mechanism is important for developing durable disease-resistant plants against wide range of pathogens. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS)-based forward genetics screening is a useful approach for identification of plant defense genes imparting nonhost resistance. Tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based VIGS vector is the most efficient VIGS vector to date and has been efficiently used to silence endogenous target genes in Nicotiana benthamiana. In this manuscript, we demonstrate a forward genetics screening approach for silencing of individual clones from a cDNA library in N. benthamiana and assessing the response of gene silenced plants for compromised nonhost resistance against nonhost pathogens, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato T1, P. syringae pv. glycinea, and X. campestris pv. vesicatoria. These bacterial pathogens are engineered to express GFPuv protein and their green fluorescing colonies can be seen by naked eye under UV light in the nonhost pathogen inoculated plants if the silenced target gene is involved in imparting nonhost resistance. This facilitates reliable and faster identification of gene silenced plants susceptible to nonhost pathogens. Further, promising candidate gene information can be known by sequencing the plant gene insert in TRV vector. Here we demonstrate the high throughput capability of VIGS-mediated forward genetics to identify genes involved in nonhost resistance. Approximately, 100 cDNAs can be individually silenced in about two to three weeks and their relevance in nonhost resistance against several nonhost bacterial pathogens can be studied in a week thereafter. In this manuscript, we enumerate the detailed steps involved in this screening. VIGS-mediated forward genetics screening approach can be extended not only to identifying genes involved in nonhost resistance but also to studying genes imparting several biotic and abiotic stress tolerances in various plant species.