Effect of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid accumulation on Verticillium dahliae infection of upland cotton

BACKGROUND: Verticillium wilt of cotton is a serious disease caused by the infection of soil borne fungus Verticillium dahliae Kleb, and the infection mechanisms may involve the regulation of phytohormone ethylene. The precursor of ethylene biosynthesis is 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), whose biosynthesis in vivo depends on activation of ACC synthase (ACS). Here, we investigated how ACS activation and ACC accumulation affected the infection of V. dahliae strain Vd991 on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivar YZ1. RESULTS: Preliminary observations indicated that ACC applications reduced the disease incidence, disease index and stem vascular browning by impeding fungal biomass accumulation. Transcriptome and qRT-PCR data disclosed that Vd991 induced GhACS2 and GhACS6 expression. GhACS2- or GhACS6-overexpressing transgenic YZ1 lines were generated, respectively. In a Verticillium disease nursery with about 50 microsclerotia per gram of soil, these ACC-accumulated plants showed decreased disease indexes, stem fungal biomasses and vascular browning. More importantly, these transgenic plants decreased the green fluorescent protein-marked Vd991 colonization and diffusion in root tissues. Further, either ACC treatment or ACC-accumulating cotton plants activated salicylic acid (SA)-dependent resistance responses. CONCLUSIONS: The GhACS2- and GhACS6-dependent ACC accumulations enhanced the resistance of cotton to V. dahliae in a SA-dependent manner, and this lays a foundation for cotton resistance breeding. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-022-03774-8.