Oxylipin biosynthesis genes positively regulate programmed cell death during compatible infections with the synergistic pair potato virus X-potato virus Y and Tomato spotted wilt virus.

One of the most severe symptoms caused by compatible plant-virus interactions is systemic necrosis, which shares common attributes with the hypersensitive response to incompatible pathogens. Although several studies have identified viral symptom determinants responsible for systemic necrosis, mechanistic models of how they contribute to necrosis in infected plants remain scarce. Here, we examined the involvement of different branches of the oxylipin biosynthesis pathway in the systemic necrosis response caused either by the synergistic interaction of Potato virus X with Potato virus Y (PVX-PVY) or by Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in Nicotiana benthamiana. Silencing either 9-lipoxygenase (LOX), 13-LOX, or α-dioxygenase-1 (α-DOX-1) attenuated the programmed cell death (PCD)-associated symptoms caused by infection with either PVX-PVY or TSWV. In contrast, silencing of the jasmonic acid perception gene, COI1 (Coronatine insensitive 1), expedited cell death during infection with compatible viruses. This correlated with an enhanced expression of oxylipin biosynthesis genes and dioxygenase activity in PVX-PVY-infected plants. Moreover, the Arabidopsis thaliana double lox1 α-dox-1 mutant became less susceptible to TSWV infection. We conclude that oxylipin metabolism is a critical component that positively regulates the process of PCD during compatible plant-virus interactions but does not play a role in restraining virus accumulation in planta.