Fig. 4

Functional analysis of TaAMT2;3a in wheat-Pst interaction using a virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) system. a Symptoms of wheat leaves treated by recombinant virus BSMV::γ, BSMV::PDS, BSMV::TaAMT2;3a-1as and BSMV::TaAMT2;3a -2as at 10 dpi. Mock leaves were treated only with FES buffer. b The phenotype of the fourth leaves inoculated with Pst virulent strain CYR31 at 14 dpi. c Relative transcription levels of TaAMT2;3a-silencing plants after inoculated with Pst. The data were normalized to the TaEF-1a expression level. The transcription levels of TaAMT2;3a in wheat leaves treated by BSMV::γ at each time point were set to one. (D) Ammonium concentrations in leaves from TaAMT2;3a-knockdown and control wheat plants inoculated with Pst. Error bars represent variations among three independent replicates. Asterisks (* and **) indicate a significant differences from 0 hpi using Student’s t-test (P < 0.05 and 0.01, respectively)