Panax notoginseng transcription factor WRKY15 modulates resistance to Fusarium solani by up-regulating osmotin-like protein expression and inducing JA/SA signaling pathways

Abstract

Background Panax notoginseng (Burk) F. H. Chen is a valuable traditional Chinese medicinal plant, but its commercial production is seriously affected by root rot caused by some pathogenic fungi, including Fusarium solani. Nevertheless, the genetic breeding for disease resistance of P. notoginseng remains limited. The WRKY transcription factors have been revealed to play important roles in plant defense responses, which might provide an inspiration for resistance improvement in P. notoginseng. Results In this study, the regulatory mechanism of transcription factor PnWRKY15 on P. notoginseng resistance to F. solani infection was revealed. The suppressed expression of PnWRKY15 via RNA interference increased the sensitivity of P. notoginseng to F. solani and decreased the expression levels of some defense-related genes, including PnOLP1, which encodes an osmotin-like protein that confers resistance to F. solani. Ectopic expression of PnWRKY15 in the model plant tobacco significantly enhanced the resistance to F. solani. Moreover, the transcriptome sequencing analysis discovered that some pathogenesis-related genes were expressed at higher levels in the PnWRKY15-overexpressing tobacco than that in the wild-type tobacco. In addition, the jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathways were evidently induced by PnWRKY15-overexpression, that was evidenced by that the JA and SA contents were significantly higher in the PnWRKY15-overexpressing tobacco than that in the wild-type. Furthermore, PnWRKY15, which was localized in the nucleus, can trans-activate and up-regulate PnOLP1 expression according to the EMSA, yeast one-hybrid and co-expression assays. Conclusions PnWRKY15 contributes to P. notoginseng resistance to F. solani by up-regulating the expression of resistance-related gene PnOLP1 and activating JA/SA signaling pathways. These findings will help to further elucidate the transcriptional regulatory mechanism associated with the P. notoginseng defense response to F. solani.

Proline‐rich protein PRPL1 enhances Panax notoginseng defence against Fusarium solani by regulating reactive oxygen species balance and strengthening the cell wall barrier

“…In Zea mays , the expression of the embryo‐specific gene ZmHyPRP is controlled by seed‐specific regulatory elements in its promoter, including the Sph/RY and G‐boxes, suggesting that ZmHyPRP may be regulated by B3 and bZIP transcription factors (Jose‐Estanyol & Puigdomènech, 2012). In an earlier investigation, genes encoding several WRKY transcription factors in P. notoginseng were mined from transcriptome data, including PnWRKY5/9/12/15/27, which are responsive to exogenous MeJA and F. solani (Su et al, 2023; Zheng et al, 2022). In the present study, we observed that PnWRKY5/9/12/15/27 can upregulate the transcription of PPnPRPL1with PnWRKY27 having the strongest promotion (Figure 8a).…”

“…The probes were synthesised and labelled with biotin (Sangon Biotech), except for the competitor probe. The EMSA was performed using the LightShift™ Chemiluminescent EMSA kit (Pierce) as described by Su et al (2023).…”

Integrated multi-omics investigation revealed the importance of phenylpropanoid metabolism in the defense response of Lilium regale Wilson to fusarium wilt

“…The LrERF4 open reading frame (supplementary material ‘The cDNA sequence of L. regale and ‘Siberia’ lily ethylene-responsive transcription factor 4’) was cloned and used to construct pCAMBIA2300S- LrERF4 overexpression vector and pHellsgate2- LrERF4 RNA interference vector according to the methods in Su et al. [ 54 ]. The recombinant vectors were insterted into A. tumefaciens for genetic transformation of ‘Siberia’ and L. regale scales.…”

Plant–pathogen interaction with root rot of Panax notoginseng as a model: Insight into pathogen pathogenesis, plant defence response and biological control

“…Su et al. ( 2023 ) indicated that PnWRKY15 enhances root rot resistance by activating and up‐regulating PnOLP1 gene expression. Ning et al.…”