ERECTA signaling regulates plant immune responses via chromatin‐mediated promotion of WRKY33 binding to target genes

Abstract

Summary The signaling pathway mediated by the receptor‐like kinase ERECTA (ER) plays important roles in plant immune responses, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. Genetic interactions between ER signaling and the chromatin remodeling complex SWR1 in the control of plant immune responses were studied. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay and yeast one‐hybrid analysis were applied to identify ER‐WRKY33 downstream components. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses were further investigated. In this study, we show that the chromatin remodeling complex SWR1 enhances resistance to the white mold fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in Arabidopsis thaliana via a process mediated by ER signaling. We identify a series of WRKY33 target YODA DOWNSTREAM (YDD) genes and demonstrate that SWR1 and ER signaling are required to enrich H2A.Z histone variant and H3K4me3 histone modification at YDDs and the binding of WRKY33 to YDD promoters upon S. sclerotiorum infection. We also reveal that the binding of WRKY33 to YDD promoters in turn promotes the enrichment of H2A.Z and H3K4me3 at YDD genes, thereby forming a positive regulatory loop to activate YDDs expression. Our study reveals how H2A.Z, H3K4me3 and ER signaling mutually regulate YDDs gene expression upon pathogen infection, highlighting the critical role of chromatin structure in ER‐signaling‐mediated plant immune responses.

Epigenetics: a catalyst of plant immunity against pathogens

“…This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved responses to biotic stress (March-Díaz et al, 2007;Berriri et al, 2016;Cai et al, 2021) through transcriptional regulation of environmentally responsive genes (ERGs).…”

“…By contrast, H2A.Z incorporation into gene-body nucleosomes generally has a repressive effect on transcription (Coleman-Derr & Zilberman, 2012;Lei & Berger, 2020); these genes tend to be environmentally responsive, and their activation is associated with H2A.Z eviction (Cortijo et al, 2017;Dai et al, 2017;Sura et al, 2017). Hence, H2A.Z controls both abiotic stress responses (Hu & Lai, 2015;Jarillo & Piñeiro, 2015;Sura et al, 2017;Kumar, 2018) and plant immune responses to biotic stress (March-D ıaz et al, 2008;Berriri et al, 2016;Cai et al, 2021) through transcriptional regulation of environmentally responsive genes (ERGs).…”

A Non-Canonical Function of Arabidopsis ERECTA Proteins in Gibberellin Signaling

“…ERECTA signaling, in tandem with the SWR1 chromatin remodeling complex (CRC), controls the expression of the PACLOBUTRAZOL RESISTANCE 1 ( PRE1 ) family genes. This observation supports their role in the GA signaling pathway, however, neither direct interaction between ERECTA and SWR1 nor the direct influence of ERECTA signaling on chromatin structure or SWR1 activity has, as yet, been demonstrated (Cai et al, 2017; Cai et al, 2021).…”

The whole-genome and expression profile analysis of WRKY and RGAs in Dactylis glomerata showed that DG6C02319.1 and DgWRKYs may cooperate in the immunity against rust

“…It plays an important role in the production of meat and dairy products ( Wilkins & Humphreys, 2003 ), but its yield is threatened by various environmental stresses. A large number of studies have shown that WRKY TFs can regulate a variety of plant processes and responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses ( Cai et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2020b ; Wang et al, 2020c ; Xiang et al, 2021 ). In this study, WRKY family members were first identified from orchardgrass, and all sequences were located, classified, and analyzed according to their expression profiles, which is of great significance for molecular-assisted breeding of orchardgrass.…”