Studying grapevine (Vitis vinifera) innate defense mechanisms is a prerequisite to the development of new protection strategies, based on the stimulation of plant signaling pathways to trigger pathogen resistance. Two transcriptional coactivators (VvNPR1.1 and VvNPR1.2) with similarity to Arabidopsis thaliana NPR1 (Non-Expressor of PR genes 1), a well-characterized and key signaling element of the salicylic acid (SA) pathway, were recently isolated in Vitis vinifera. In this study, functional characterization of VvNPR1.1 and VvNPR1.2, including complementation of the Arabidopsis npr1 mutant, revealed that VvNPR1.1 is a functional ortholog of AtNPR1, whereas VvNPR1.2 likely has a different function. Ectopic overexpression of VvNPR1.1 in the Arabidopsis npr1-2 mutant restored plant growth at a high SA concentration, Pathogenesis Related 1 (PR1) gene expression after treatment with SA or bacterial inoculation, and resistance to virulent Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola bacteria. Moreover, stable overexpression of VvNPR1.1-GFP in V. vinifera resulted in constitutive nuclear localization of the fusion protein and enhanced PR gene expression in uninfected plants. Furthermore, grapevine plants overexpressing VvNPR1.1-GFP exhibited an enhanced resistance to powdery mildew infection. This work highlights the importance of the conserved SA/NPR1 signaling pathway for resistance to biotrophic pathogens in V. vinifera.

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