Involvement of the elicitor-induced gene OsWRKY53 in the expression of defense-related genes in rice.
We present a detailed characterization of the chitin oligosaccharide elicitor-induced gene OsWRKY53. OsWRKY53 was also induced in suspension-cultured rice cells by a fungal cerebroside elicitor and in rice plants by infection with the blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea. A fusion of OsWRKY53 with green fluorescent protein was detected exclusively in the nuclei of onion epidermal cells, and OsWRKY53 protein specifically bound to W-box elements. A transient assay using the particle bombardment method showed that OsWRKY53 is a transcriptional activator. A microarray analysis revealed that several defense-related genes, including pathogenesis-related protein genes such as PBZ1, were upregulated in rice cells overexpressing OsWRKY53. Finally, overexpression of OsWRKY53 in rice plants resulted in enhanced resistance to M. grisea. These results strongly suggest that OsWRKY53 is a transcription factor that plays important roles in elicitor-induced defense signaling pathways in rice.
Chujo
Tetsuya
T
Biotechnology Research Center, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
Takai
Ryota
R
Akimoto-Tomiyama
Chiharu
C
Ando
Sugihiro
S
Minami
Eiichi
E
Nagamura
Yoshiaki
Y
Kaku
Hanae
H
Shibuya
Naoto
N
Yasuda
Michiko
M
Nakashita
Hideo
H
Umemura
Kenji
K
Okada
Atsushi
A
Okada
Kazunori
K
Nojiri
Hideaki
H
Yamane
Hisakazu
H
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology*; D020082:Magnaporthe / Q000472:pathogenicity; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; C053376:pathogenesis-related proteins, plant