Constitutive expression of rice WRKY30 gene increases the endogenous jasmonic acid accumulation, PR gene expression and resistance to fungal pathogens in rice.
WRKY transcription factors are crucial regulatory components of plant responses to pathogen infection. In the present study, we report isolation and functional characterization of the pathogen-responsive rice WRKY30 gene, whose transcripts accumulate rapidly in response to salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) treatment. Overexpression of WRKY30 in rice enhanced resistance to rice sheath blight fungus Rhizoctonia solani and blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea. The enhanced resistance in the transgenic lines overexpressing WRKY30 was associated with activated expression of JA synthesis-related genes LOX, AOS2 and pathogenesis-related (PR)3 and PR10, and increased endogenous JA accumulation under the challenge of fungal pathogens. WRKY30 was nuclear-localized and had transcriptional activation ability in yeast cells, supporting that it functions as a transcription factor. Together, our findings indicate that JA plays a crucial role in the WRKY30-mediated defense responses to fungal pathogens, and that the rice WRKY30 seems promising as an important candidate gene to improve disease resistance in rice.
School of Life Sciences, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan Rd., Xiangtan, 411201, Hunan, China.
Xixu
X
Peng
Yaojun
Y
Hu
Xinke
X
Tang
Pinglan
P
Zhou
Xiaobo
X
Deng
Haihua
H
Wang
Zejian
Z
Guo
D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003517:Cyclopentanes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D020082:Magnaporthe / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012275:Oryza / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D054883:Oxylipins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D012232:Rhizoctonia / Q000472:pathogenicity; D020156:Salicylic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D015003:Yeasts / Q000235:genetics
D003517:Cyclopentanes; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D054883:Oxylipins; D010940:Plant Proteins; C011006:jasmonic acid; D020156:Salicylic Acid