FIG 5.
Analysis of the virulence function of VdR3e from Verticillium dahliae in tomato. (A, C, E, and G) Phenotypes of the S. lycopersicum cultivars Ailsa Craig, Zhongfan No.310, Zhongfan No.144, and Moneymaker inoculated, respectively, with ΔVdR3e-HoMCLT, ECVdR3e-HoMCLT, and OEVdR3e-HoMCLT strains. Two-week-old plants of each cultivar were inoculated by the root-dipping method with ΔVdR3e-HoMCLT, ECVdR3e-HoMCLT, and OEVdR3e-HoMCLT strains, the wild type (HoMCLT), or sterile water (Mock) as a control. The separate transformants were characterized for each mutant. Symptoms were recorded 21 days after inoculation. (B, D, F, and H) Detection of the fungal biomass of the ΔVdR3e-HoMCLT, ECVdR3e-HoMCLT, and OEVdR3e-HoMCLT strains after inoculating S. lycopersicum cultivar Ailsa Craig, Zhongfan No.310, Zhongfan No.144, and Moneymaker. Three weeks after inoculation, the roots and stems of the S. lycopersicum were harvested. The genomic DNA of the harvested tissue was extracted, and the fungal colonization of V. dahliae in the S. lycopersicum roots was detected by quantitative PCR. Values represent the means ± the SE of three independent samples. Asterisks (*), double asterisks (**), and triple asterisks (***) represent statistical significance at 0.01 < P < 0.05, 0.001 < P < 0.01, and P < 0.001, respectively, based on unpaired Student t tests. (A and B) Ailsa Craig; (C and D) cultivar Zhongfan No.310; (E and F) cultivar Zhongfan No.144; (G and H) cultivar Moneymaker.