Figure 2. GrCEP12 suppresses flg22-induced expression of PTI marker genes in N. benthamiana. N. benthamiana leaf discs expressing GrCEP12, AvrPtoB, HA or the empty vector (EV) construct were collected 24 h post-agroinfiltration and soaked overnight in water. Leaf discs were then treated with 100 nM flg22 or distilled water for 30 min. mRNA was extracted from treated leaf discs and quantitative RT-PCR was conducted to determine the expression of NbPti5 and NbACRE31 genes in flg22-treated leaf discs relative to water-treated leaf discs. All samples were normalized against the reference gene NbEF1α.¹⁷ Values are means ± SD of three independent experiments with three technical replicates of each. Asterisks indicate statistically significant difference compared with the EV control (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; Student’s t-test).