GhWRKY41 forms a positive feedback regulation loop and increases cotton defense response against Verticillium dahliae by regulating phenylpropanoid metabolism.
Shenghua XiaoYuqing MingQin HuZhengxiu YeHuan SiShiming LiuXiaojun ZhangWeiran WangYu YuJie KongSteven J KlostermanKeith LindseyShuangxia JinAlifu AierxiLongfu ZhuPublished in: Plant biotechnology journal (2023)
Despite the established significance of WRKY proteins and phenylpropanoid metabolism in plant immunity, how WRKY proteins modulate aspects of the phenylpropanoid pathway remains undetermined. To understand better the role of WRKY proteins in plant defense, we identified a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) protein, GhWRKY41, that is universally and rapidly induced in three disease-resistant cotton cultivars following inoculation with the plant pathogenic fungus, Verticillium dahliae. We show that overexpression of GhWRKY41 in transgenic cotton and Arabidopsis enhances resistance to V. dahliae, while knock-down increases cotton more susceptibility to the fungus. GhWRKY41 physically interacts with itself and directly activates its own transcription. A genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation and high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq), in combination with RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analyses, revealed that 43.1% of GhWRKY41-binding genes were up-regulated in cotton upon inoculation with V. dahliae, including several phenylpropanoid metabolism master switches, receptor kinases, and disease resistance-related proteins. We also show that GhWRKY41 homodimer directly activates the expression of GhC4H and Gh4CL, thereby modulating the accumulation of lignin and flavonoids. This finding expands our understanding of WRKY-WRKY protein interactions and provides important insights into the regulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway in plant immune responses by a WRKY protein.
Keyphrases
- transcription factor
- genome wide identification
- single cell
- rna seq
- genome wide
- dna binding
- genome wide analysis
- binding protein
- high throughput sequencing
- immune response
- dna methylation
- protein protein
- amino acid
- poor prognosis
- toll like receptor
- cell proliferation
- gene expression
- dna damage
- copy number
- ionic liquid
- oxidative stress
- innate immune