International Journal of Molecular Sciences Article Overexpression of Salicylic Acid Carboxyl Methyltransferase (CsSAMT1) Enhances Tolerance to Huanglongbing Disease in Wanjincheng Orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) Xiuping Zou * , Ke Zhao, Yunuo Liu, Meixia Du, Lin Zheng, Shuai Wang, Lanzhen Xu, Aihong Peng, Yongrui He, Qin Long and Shanchun Chen * Citrus Research Institute, Southwest University/Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 400716, China;
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[email protected] (S.C.) Abstract: Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) disease or citrus greening is caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Las) and is the most devastating disease in the global citrus industry. Salicylic acid (SA) plays a central role in regulating plant defenses against pathogenic attack. SA methyltransferase (SAMT) modulates SA homeostasis by converting SA to methyl salicylate (MeSA). Here, we report on the functions of the citrus SAMT (CsSAMT1) gene from HLB-susceptible Wanjincheng orange Citation: Zou, X.; Zhao, K.; Liu, Y.; (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) in plant defenses against Las infection. The CsSAMT1 cDNA was Du, M.; Zheng, L.; Wang, S.; Xu, L.; expressed in yeast. Using in vitro enzyme assays, yeast expressing CsSAMT1 was confirmed to Peng, A.; He, Y.; Long, Q.; et al. specifically catalyze the formation of MeSA using SA as a substrate. Transgenic Wanjincheng orange Overexpression of Salicylic Acid plants overexpressing CsSAMT1 had significantly increased levels of SA and MeSA compared to Carboxyl Methyltransferase wild-type controls.