Verticillium wilt can be caused by the soil-borne fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae (V. dahliae). It is a destructive vascular pathogen that infects more than 200 plant species, including economically important crops such as cotton. The disease induces severe symptoms such as wilting, chlorosis, and necrosis, ultimately resulting in substantial yield losses. Conventional management strategies, including chemical fungicides and crop rotation, have exhibited limited effectiveness against V. dahliae, emphasizing the urgent need to elucidate innate plant resistance mechanisms for breeding Verticillium-resistant varieties. In this study, the defense mechanisms of root border cells (RBCs) against V. dahliae were investigated. Fluorescence microscopy and cryo-scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that RBCs were viable and free cells, exhibiting round, intermediate, and elongated morphologies. In vitro co-culture assays revealed that viable RBCs isolated from cotton or corn markedly suppressed the growth of V. dahliae, whereas heat-inactivated RBCs lost this antifungal capacity, confirming that the defense mechanism was viability-dependent. Further analysis indicated that under V. dahliae stress, RBCs secreted a thickened mucilage layer enriched in pectin and extracellular DNA (exDNA), which encapsulated fungal hyphae and formed a physical barrier. Metabolomic profiling of RBC secretions from both cotton and corn identified a conserved set of metabolites, including compounds involved in flavone and flavonol biosynthesis, valine, leucine, and isoleucine metabolism, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, which could contribute to chemical defense against pathogens. These findings demonstrate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying RBC-mediated inhibition of V. dahliae infection and provide insights for developing Verticillium wilt resistance breeding strategies in cotton.
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