Fig. 4

Ectopic expression of CaCRK5 in transgenic N. benthamiana significantly enhances the resistance to R. solanacearum. a Expression levels of CaCRK5 in WT (wild-type) and transgenic N. benthamiana lines (L3 and L7). b Symptoms in WT and overexpressed plants. The photograph was taken 12 d post root-inoculation with R. solanacearum. c Disease development of bacterial wilt was rated daily on a 0–4 disease index in WT and overexpressed plants. Each data point represents the mean disease index from three independent experiments containing 30 plants in total for each treatment. d Expression of four defense-related genes (NtPR2, NtPR3, NtHSR201 and NtHSR505) in in WT and CaCRK5 overexpressed line L3. Four-week-old WT and transgenic N. benthamiana seedlings were leaf-inoculated with R. solanacearum. After 48 h, total RNAs were extracted for qRT-PCR assays. Data represent means ± SD (n = 3). Asterisks indicate significant differences according to Mann-Whitney U test, *P < 0.05