摘要
Recent studies in Arabidopsis have revealed that some vq motif-containing proteins physically interact with WRKY transcription factors; however, their specific biological functions are still poorly understood. In this study, we confirmed the interaction between VQ1o and WRKY8, and show that VQ1o and WRKY8 formed a complex in the plant cell nucleus. Yeast two-hybrid analysis showed that the middle region of WRKY8 and the vq motif of vqlo are critical for their interaction, and that this interaction promotes the DNA-binding activity of WRKY8. Further investigation revealed that the VqlO protein was exclusively localized in the nucleus, and VQ1o was predominantly expressed in siliques, vQ1o expression was strongly responsive to the necrotrophic fungal pathogen, Botrytis cinerea and defense-relatedhormones. Phenotypic analysis showed that disruption of VQlo increased mutant plants susceptibility to the fungal pathogen B. cinerea, whereas constitutive-expres- sion of VQlo enhanced resistance to B. cinerea. Consis- tent with these findings, expression of the defenserelated PLANT DEFENSIN1.2 （PDFt2） gene was decreased in vqlo mutant plants, after B. cinerea infection, but increased in vQ1o-overexpressing transgenic plants. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that VQlo physically interacts with WRKY8 and positively regulates plant basal resistance against the necrotrophic fungal pathogen B. cinerea.
Recent studies in Arabidopsis have revealed that some vq motif-containing proteins physically interact with WRKY transcription factors; however, their specific biological functions are still poorly understood. In this study, we confirmed the interaction between VQ1o and WRKY8, and show that VQ1o and WRKY8 formed a complex in the plant cell nucleus. Yeast two-hybrid analysis showed that the middle region of WRKY8 and the vq motif of vqlo are critical for their interaction, and that this interaction promotes the DNA-binding activity of WRKY8. Further investigation revealed that the VqlO protein was exclusively localized in the nucleus, and VQ1o was predominantly expressed in siliques, vQ1o expression was strongly responsive to the necrotrophic fungal pathogen, Botrytis cinerea and defense-relatedhormones. Phenotypic analysis showed that disruption of VQlo increased mutant plants susceptibility to the fungal pathogen B. cinerea, whereas constitutive-expres- sion of VQlo enhanced resistance to B. cinerea. Consis- tent with these findings, expression of the defenserelated PLANT DEFENSIN1.2 （PDFt2） gene was decreased in vqlo mutant plants, after B. cinerea infection, but increased in vQ1o-overexpressing transgenic plants. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that VQlo physically interacts with WRKY8 and positively regulates plant basal resistance against the necrotrophic fungal pathogen B. cinerea.
基金
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31671274,91417307)
the Innovative Team of Yunnan Province(2014HC017)
