Fig. 5

Members of the Zhongzhimian No.2 (ZZM2) secretome activate the plant immune responses. A Analyses of induction of cell death in 4-week-old N. benthamiana leaves that were infiltrated with constructs expressing 213 members of the secretome of ZZM2. Cell death was examined after 8 days. The PAMP endoglucanase VdEG1- and the Bcl-2-associated X protein (BAX) were used as positive controls; green fluorescent protein (GFP) was used as a negative control. The figure represents selected phenotypes following the infiltration of five members of the ZZM2 secretome: GhSec013, GhSec017, GhSec043, GhSec044, and GhSec0190. B Detection of transcripts of defense response genes related to the immunity marker gene NbHIN1, salicylic acid signaling marker gene NbPR1, and jasmonic acid signaling marker gene NbLOX4 by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The transcripts were detected in 4-week-old Nicotiana benthamiana leaves 2 days after agro-infiltration with the 18 random selective secretome members BAX, VdEG1, and the cotton A08G47475 (thionin protein) used as positive controls to induce the N. benthamiana immunity response. The RT-qPCR experiments were performed three times. Error bars represent standard errors. Asterisks * (P < 0.05) and ** (P < 0.01) indicate a significant difference relative to the agro-infiltration GFP control in unpaired Student’s t-tests