Expression Profiling Across Wild and Cultivated Tomatoes Supports the Relevance of Early MiR482/2118 Suppression for Resistance

Plants possess a battery of specific pathogen resistance ()genes. Precise gene regulation is important in the presence and absence of a pathogen. Recently, a microRNA family, miR482/2118, was shown to regulate the expression of a major class of genes nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeats (). Furthermore, RNA silencing suppressor proteins, secreted by pathogens, prevent the accumulation of miR482/2118, leading to an upregulation of genes. Despite this transcriptional release of -genes, RNA silencing suppressors positively contribute to the virulence of some pathogens To investigate this paradox, we analysed how the regulation of by miR482/2118 has been shaped by the coevolution between and cultivated and wild tomatoes. We used degradome analyses and qRT-PCR to evaluate and quantify the co-expression of miR482/2118 and their targets. Our data show that miR482/2118-mediated targeting contributes to the regulation of in Based on miR482/2118 expression profiling in two additional tomato species-with different coevolutionary histories with -we hypothesize that pathogen-mediated RNA silencing suppression is most effective in the interaction between and Furthermore, an upregulation of miR482/2118 early in the infection may increase susceptibility to .