Overexpression of VvWRKY2 in tobacco enhances broad resistance to necrotrophic fungal pathogens

Abstract

WRKY genes encode proteins belonging to a large family of transcription factors that are involved in various developmental and physiological processes and in plant responses to pathogen infections. In the present work, a full-length cDNA from a Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon grape berry library was isolated and characterized. The cDNA, designated VvWRKY2, encodes a polypeptide of 536 amino acids that shows the structural features of group I of WRKY protein family. VvWRKY2 is expressed in the different organs of healthy grapevine plants. In leaves, VvWRKY2 is induced by wounding and after infection with Plasmopara viticola. Constitutive expression of VvWRKY2 in tobacco reduced the susceptibility of transgenic tobacco to three types of fungal pathogens infecting different parts of the plant: Botrytis cinerea (leaves), Pythium spp. (roots) and Alternaria tenuis (seeds). The results indicate that VvWRKY2 may be involved in the resistance of grapevine against the pathogens.

Expression and functional analysis of two genes encoding transcription factors, VpWRKY1 and VpWRKY2, isolated from Chinese wild Vitis pseudoreticulata

“…In grape, 43 assembled WRKY genes have been predicted from susceptible V. vinifera using PlantGDB independent from the released whole genome sequences of V. vinifera (Jaillon et al 2007;Velasco et al 2007;Guo et al 2008), and two WRKY transcription factor genes (VvWRKY1 and VvWRKY2) isolated from susceptible V. vinifera have been studied Mzid et al 2007;Guillaumie et al 2010). In the present study, both VpWRKY1 and VpWRKY2 were isolated from E. necator-resistant Chinese wild V. pseudoreticulata W. T. Wang 'Baihe-35-1'.…”

“…Although two WRKY transcription factors genes (VvWRKY1 and VvWRKY2) isolated from susceptible V. vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon have been shown to enhance resistance to fungal pathogens in transgenic tobacco plants Mzid et al 2007;Guillaumie et al 2010), transcription factors from powdery mildew-resistant grapevine species have not yet been studied.…”

The expression patterns of Cucumis sativus WRKY (CsWRKY) family under the condition of inoculation with Phytophthora melonis in disease resistant and susceptible cucumber cultivars

“…In rice, the expression of 15 out of 45 OsWRKYs tested was increased remarkably in an incompatible interaction between rice and M. grisea (Ryu et al 2006). The important function of Grape VvWRKY2 gene was shown in the resistance of grapevine to pathogens (Mzid et al 2007).…”

VvWRKY13 enhances ABA biosynthesis in Vitis vinifera

“…Recent studies also characterized several WRKY genes in cultivated grapevines and Chinese wild Vitis pseudoreticulata. All of them have been shown to regulate biotic or abiotic responses [20][21][22][23][24][25][26], but there has been no report about grapevine WRKY transcription factors affecting the ABA signaling and ABA production, until now.…”