Figure 6.

MeEDS1 (Manihot esculenta Enhanced Disease Susceptibility 1) and MePR4 (Manihot esculenta pathogen‐related gene 4) positively regulate plant immune response to cassava bacterial blight. (A) Through transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves, overexpression of MeEDS1 and MePR4 resulted in lower bacterial propagation of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis (Xam) in the leaves. Nicotiana benthamiana leaves were first syringe infiltrated with different transients for 2 days; thereafter, the transient expressing leaves were syringe infiltrated with 10⁸ colony‐forming units (cfu)/mL of Xam at the indicated time points (dpi, days post‐inoculation). (B) The transcripts of MeEDS1 and MePR4 in gene‐silenced cassava leaves. (C) The bacterial number in MeEDS1‐ and MePR4‐silenced cassava leaves. The 30‐day‐old cassava leaves were first syringe infiltrated with GV3101 strain containing the virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS) vector for 14 days; thereafter, the other cassava leaves were syringe infiltrated with 10⁸ cfu/mL of Xam. Bar, 1 cm. Asterisks (*) indicate significant differences in comparison with vector treatment at P < 0.05.