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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.

Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1561731

This article is part of the Research TopicTobacco Disease and Biological ControlView all 14 articles

Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) homologs participate in Nicotiana benthamiana antiviral responses

Provisionally accepted
Haijuan WangHaijuan Wang1Jidan ZhangJidan Zhang1Zhuo MengZhuo Meng1Zhenqi SunZhenqi Sun1Dongyang LiuDongyang Liu2Bin LiBin Li2Fangfang YanFangfang Yan2Chongyi JiaChongyi Jia3Hongyou ZhouHongyou Zhou1Mingmin ZhaoMingmin Zhao1*
  • 1Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China
  • 2Sichuan Province Company of Tobacco Corporation in China, Chengdu, China
  • 3Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau of Bayannaoer City, Inner Mongolia (Rural Vitalization Bureau), Bayannaoer, China

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Superoxide dismutases (SODs) constitute the first line of defense against reactive oxygen species. Copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) is an enzyme whose activity depends on copper availability. Cu/Zn-SOD-1 induction has been demonstrated to be implicated in the antioxidative and antiviral activity of acetylsalicylic acid in HCV-expressing cells. Here, RNA sequencing analysis identified SOD homologs (three NbCu/Zn-SOD, four NbFe-SOD and two NbMn-SOD) that were differentially expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana during tobacco vein mottling virus (TVMV) infection. NbCu/Zn-SOD-1 was cloned from N. benthamiana and further characterized. Encoding sequence and structural analyses of NbCu/Zn-SOD-1 protein confirmed a conserved SOD enzyme domain, GFHLHEfGDtT, showing that it is SODdependent and phylogenetically related to Cu/Zn-SOD in Nicotiana tabacum (XP 016486719.1). NbCu/Zn-SOD-1 was mainly localized in the cytoplasm. Transient expression of NbCu/Zn-SOD-1 resulted in decreased accumulation of TVMV and PVY-Rosea1(PVY-Ros1). In summary, our results indicate that NbCu/Zn-SOD-1 homologs participate in plant antiviral responses.

Keywords: Superoxide dismutases, NbCu/Zn-SOD-1, Nicotiana benthamiana, Tobacco vein mottling virus, Antiviral resistanc

Received: 20 Jan 2025; Accepted: 11 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Zhang, Meng, Sun, Liu, Li, Yan, Jia, Zhou and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mingmin Zhao, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China

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Supplementary Material