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Abstract

Plants respond to pathogen infection with the activation of the expression of pathogenesis-related genes, a response that involves Ca2+-regulated protein phosphorylation processes. We report here the isolation of a full-length complementary DNA encoding a calcium-dependent protein kinase (CPK) gene from maize. CPK genes occur in maize as members of a multigene family, but only one specific CPK gene, the ZmCPK10 gene here described, is transcriptionally activated in response to both fungal infection and treatment with fungal elicitors. Activation of the ZmCPK10 gene is extremely rapid. ZmCPK10 transcripts could be detected 5 min after elicitation and reached maximum levels at 30 min after treatment. Afterwards, there was a decline in the level of ZmCPK10 transcripts followed by a basal level of accumulation which is maintained over the time period of elicitor treatment. The activation of this kinase is accompanied by an increase in the level of PRms mRNA, the PRms being a pathogenesis-related protein from maize whose expression is induced in maize tissues in response to fungal infection and treatment with fungal elicitors. In situ mRNA hybridization analysis revealed a remarkable cell-type specific pattern of expression of ZmCPK10 during growth and development of the elicitor-treated or fungus-infected seedling. Moreover, the ZmCPK10 gene is expressed only in those specific cell types in which the PRms gene is also expressed. The involvement of ZmCPK10 in the elicitor-induced signal transduction pathway leading to the activation of PRms gene expression is discussed.

Expression Profiling of a Novel Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase Gene,LeCPK2, from Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) under Heat and Pathogen-Related Hormones

“…8,27) ET, JA, and SA are well documented as signal molecules playing important roles in the defense of plants against multiple pathogenic and insect attacks, [28][29][30][31][32][33] and also, CDPKs were reported to be involved in defense responses to various biotic stimuli. [34][35][36][37] Consequently, the question arises whether the responses of CDPK genes to pathogens and insect stimuli are induced by these pathogen-related phytohormones. Studies of CDPK genes in chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) provided clues to this question, CaCDPK3 and CaCDPK4 were found to be induced during pathogen infection in parallel with responses to ET, JA, and SA.…”

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of calcium-dependent protein kinase in maize

“…The transcript levels of ZmCDPK7 and ZmCDPK9 were higher in roots and etiolated leaves than in green leaves, suggesting these two genes may be down-regulated in response to light [45]. ZmCDPK10 expression occurred during the growth and development of the maize seedling in response to fungal infection and treatment with fungal elicitors [46]. Recently, the expression and enzymatic activity of ZmCDPK11 were shown to be regulated by linolenic acid (LA) and MeJA, and ZmCDPK11 participated in JA-dependent wound signaling pathways [21,47].…”

The defense response of germinating maize embryos against fungal infection: A proteomics approach

“…We previously reported the molecular cloning and induction of maize genes in response to infection with the fungus F. verticillioides, PR genes among others [23][24][25][26][27]. In our previous studies, we also used the already established 2-DE procedure of O'Farrell [28] to analyze the ability of germinating maize seeds to synthesize and accumulate PR proteins [29].…”