Figure 9.

Increased Disease Susceptibility to a Virulent Strain of P. infestans by Silencing of Multiple WRKY Genes.

(A) Susceptibility to P. infestans in the silenced plants. Inoculated leaves were photographed 6 d after the inoculation (left). N. benthamiana leaves were stained with lactophenol-trypan blue 6 d after inoculation (right). Arrowheads indicate hyphae of P. infestans. Asterisks indicate HR cell death of mesophyll cells. Bars = 20 μm.

(B) Effects of single or multiple WRKY gene silencing on P. infestans infection. Biomasses were determined by qPCR 6 d after inoculation. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences compared with TRV (t test, **P < 0.01). Data are means ± sd from three independent experiments.