title: Maize ZmRACK1 is involved in the plant response to fungal phytopathogens.
abstract: The receptor for activated C kinase 1 (RACK1) belongs to a protein subfamily containing a tryptophan-aspartic acid-domain (WD) repeat structure. Compelling evidence indicates that RACK1 can interact with many signal molecules and affect different signal transduction pathways. In this study, we cloned a maize RACK1 gene (ZmRACK1) by RT-PCR. The amino acid sequence of ZmRACK1 had seven WD repeats in which there were typical GH (glycine-histidine) and WD dipeptides. Comparison with OsRACK1 from rice revealed 89% identity at the amino acid level. Expression pattern analysis by RT-PCR showed that ZmRACK1 was expressed in all analyzed tissues of maize and that its transcription in leaves was induced by abscisic acid and jasmonate at a high concentration. Overexpression of ZmRACK1 in maize led to a reduction in symptoms caused by Exserohilum turcicum (Pass.) on maize leaves. The expression levels of the pathogenesis-related protein genes, PR-1 and PR-5, increased 2.5-3 times in transgenic maize, and reactive oxygen species production was more active than in the wild-type. Yeast two-hybrid assays showed that ZmRACK1 could interact with RAC1, RAR1 and SGT1. This study and previous work leads us to believe that ZmRACK1 may form a complex with regulators of plant disease resistance to coordinate maize reactions to pathogens.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agribiotechnology, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. cauwbs@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Baosheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agribiotechnology, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. yujj@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jingjuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agribiotechnology, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. zhudy@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Dengyun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agribiotechnology, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. changyujie@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yujie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agribiotechnology, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. zhaoqian@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D060066:Protein Interaction Maps; D000075370:Receptors for Activated C Kinase; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D000075370:Receptors for Activated C Kinase; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface