The Plant Pathology Journal

The Korean Society of Plant Pathology (한국식물병리학회)
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Arabidopsis WRKY55 Transcription Factor Enhances Soft Rot Disease Resistance with ORA59

  • Ji Eun Kang (Department of Plant Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Korea University) ;
  • Hyunsun Kim (National Institute of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration) ;
  • Kyungyoung Song (National Institute of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration) ;
  • Changhyun Choi (National Institute of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration) ;
  • Yun Ju Kim (Department of Systems Biology, Yonsei University) ;
  • Duk-Ju Hwang (National Institute of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration) ;
  • Eui-Hwan Chung (Department of Plant Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Korea University)
  • Received : 2024.08.21
  • Accepted : 2024.09.03
  • Published : 2024.10.01
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Abstract

Pectobacterium is a major bacterial causal agent leading to soft rot disease in host plants. With the Arabidopsis-Pectobacterium pathosystem, we investigated the function of an Arabidopsis thaliana WRKY55 during defense responses to Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. carotovorum (Pcc). Pcc-infection specifically induced WRKY55 gene expression. The overexpression of WRKY55 was resistant to the Pcc infection, while wrky55 knockout plants compromised the defense responses against Pcc. WRKY55 expression was mediated via Arabidopsis COI1-dependent signaling pathway showing that WRKY55 can contribute to the gene expression of jasmonic acid-mediated defense marker genes such as PDF1.2 and LOX2. WRKY55 physically interacts with Arabidopsis ORA59 facilitating the expression of PDF1.2. Our results suggest that WRKY55 can function as a positive regulator for resistance against Pcc in Arabidopsis.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

We thank Ms. Eunyoung Park for her technical support. The working model in Fig. 6 was generated by BioRender. E-HC was supported by Korea University Grants (K2021521 & K2106871), the Korea University Insung Research Grant (K2128041), and the Institute of Life Science and Natural Resources, Korea University. DJH was funded by Wu Jang-Choon Project by the Rural Development Administration (PJ00785003).

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