Cold priming on pathogen susceptibility in the Arabidopsis eds1 mutant background requires a functional stromal Ascorbate Peroxidase

Abstract

24 h cold exposure (4°C) is sufficient to reduce pathogen susceptibility in Arabidopsis thaliana against the virulent Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) strain even when the infection occurs five days later. This priming effect is independent of the immune regulator Enhanced Disease Susceptibility 1 (EDS1) and can be observed in the immune-compromised eds1–2 null mutant. In contrast, cold priming-reduced Pst susceptibility is strongly impaired in knock-out lines of the stromal and thylakoid ascorbate peroxidases (sAPX/tAPX) highlighting their relevance for abiotic stress-related increased immune resilience. Here, we extended our analysis by generating an eds1 sapx double mutant. eds1 sapx showed eds1-like resistance and susceptibility phenotypes against Pst strains containing the effectors avrRPM1 and avrRPS4. In comparison to eds1–2, susceptibility against the wildtype Pst strain was constitutively enhanced in eds1 sapx. Although a prior cold priming exposure resulted in reduced Pst titers in eds1–2, it did not alter Pst resistance in eds1 sapx. This demonstrates that the genetic sAPX requirement for cold priming of basal plant immunity applies also to an eds1 null mutant background.