SummaryTomato is one of the most economically important vegetable crops in the world and has been seriously affected by the devastating agricultural pest root‐knot nematodes (RKNs). Current understanding of tomato resistance to RKNs is quite limited. VQ motif‐containing family proteins are plant‐specific regulators; however, whether and how tomato VQs regulate resistance to RKNs is unknown. Here, we found that SlVQ15 recruited SlWRKY30IIc to coordinately control tomato defence against the RKN Meloidogyne incognita without affecting plant growth and productivity. The jasmonate (JA)‐ZIM domain (JAZ) repressors of the phytohormone JAs signalling associated and interfered with the interaction of SlVQ15 and SlWRKY30IIc. In turn, SlWRKY30IIc bound to SlJAZs promoters and cooperated with SlVQ15 to repress their expression, whereas this inhibitory effect was antagonized by SlJAZ5, forming a feedback regulatory mechanism. Moreover, SlWRKY30IIc expression was directly regulated by SlMYC2, a SlJAZ‐interacting negative regulator of resistance to RKNs. In conclusion, our findings revealed that a regulatory circuit of SlVQ15‐SlWRKY30IIc and the JA pathway fine‐tunes tomato defence against the RKN M. incognita, and provided candidate genes and clues with great potential for crop improvement.

中文翻译：

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SlVQ15 募集 SlWRKY30IIc 与茉莉酸通路连接，调节番茄对根结线虫的防御


摘要西红柿是世界上最具经济价值的蔬菜作物之一，受到毁灭性农业害虫根结线虫 （RKN） 的严重影响。目前对番茄对 RKN 的抗性了解非常有限。含有 VQ 基序的家族蛋白是植物特异性调节因子;然而，番茄 VQs 是否以及如何调节对 RKN 的抗性尚不清楚。在这里，我们发现 SlVQ15 募集 SlWRKY30IIc 来协调控制番茄对 RKN Meloidogyne incognita 的防御，而不会影响植物生长和生产力。植物激素 JAs 的茉莉酸酯 （JA）‐ZIM 结构域 （JAZ） 抑制因子信号传导相关并干扰 SlVQ15 和 SlWRKY30IIc 的相互作用。反过来，SlWRKY30IIc 与 SlJAZs 启动子结合并与 SlVQ15 合作抑制其表达，而这种抑制作用被 SlJAZ5 拮抗，形成反馈调节机制。此外，SlWRKY30IIc 表达受 SlMYC2 直接调节，SlMYC2 是一种 SlJAZ 相互作用的 RKN 抗性负调节因子。总之，我们的研究结果表明，SlVQ15-SlWRKY30IIc 和 JA 通路的调节回路微调了番茄对 RKN M. incognita 的防御，并为作物改良提供了具有巨大潜力的候选基因和线索。