Evidence for a positive regulatory role of strawberry (Fragariaxananassa) Fa WRKY1 and Arabidopsis At WRKY75 proteins in resistance.
J Exp Bot. 2009 May 21; Encinas-Villarejo S, Maldonado AM, Amil-Ruiz F, de Los Santos B, Romero F, Pliego-Alfaro F, Muñoz-Blanco J, Caballero JLKnowledge of the molecular basis of plant resistance to pathogens in species other than Arabidopsis is limited. The function of Fa WRKY1, the first WRKY gene isolated from strawberry (Fragariaxananassa), an important agronomical fruit crop, has been investigated here. Fa WRKY1 encodes a IIc WRKY transcription factor and is up-regulated in strawberry following Colletotrichum acutatum infection, treatments with elicitors, and wounding. Its Arabidopsis sequence homologue, At WRKY75, has been described as playing a role in regulating phosphate starvation responses. However, using T-DNA insertion mutants, a role for the At WRKY75 and Fa WRKY1 in the activation of basal and R-mediated resistance in Arabidopsis is demonstrated. At wrky75 mutants are more susceptible to virulent and avirulent isolates of Pseudomonas syringae. Overexpression of Fa WRK...