Arabidopsis cell death in compatible and incompatible interactions with Alternaria brassicicola

Two strains of necrotrophic Alternaria brassicicola , Ab40857 and Ab42464, are virulent on Korean cabbage and several wild types of Arabidopsis thaliana . Interaction between Ab42464 and Col-0 was compatible, whereas interaction between Ab40857 and Col-0 was incompatible. The loss of defense, no death (dnd) 1 function abrogated the compatibility between Ab42464 and Col-0, and the accelerated cell death (acd) 2 mutation attenuated the Col-0’s resistance against Ab40857. These two fungal strains induced PR1 transcription in Col-0. Ab40857 accelerated transcription of PDF1.2, THI2.1, CAT , and POX by 12 h compared to those challenged with Ab42464. More abundant cell death was observed in Col-0 infected with Ab42464, however, callose deposition was evident in the incompatible interaction. Remarkably, Ab40857-infected areas of acd2-2 underwent rampant cell death and Ab42464 triggered callose production in dnd1-1 . Furthermore, the incompatibility between Ab40857 and Col-0 was nullified by the coronatine-insensitive 1 (coi1) and phytoalexin-deficient 3 (pad3) mutations but not by nonexpresser of PR genes (npr1) and pad4 . Ab40857 induced abundant cell death in pad3 . Taken together, cell death during the early infection stage is a key determinant that discriminates between a compatible interaction and an incompatible one, and the resistance within Col-0 against Ab40857 is dependent on a defense-signaling pathway mediated by jasmonic acid and PAD3.