The Cysteine2/Histidine2-Type Transcription Factor ZINC FINGER OF ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA6 Modulates Biotic and Abiotic Stress Responses by Activating Salicylic Acid-Related Genes and C-REPEAT-BINDING FACTOR Genes in Arabidopsis

The cysteine2/histidine2-type zinc finger proteins are a large family of transcription regulators, and some of them play essential roles in plant responses to biotic and abiotic stress. In this study, we found that expression of C2H2-type ZINC FINGER OF ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA6 (AtZAT6) was transcriptionally induced by salt, dehydration, cold stress treatments, and pathogen infection, and AtZAT6 was predominantly located in the nucleus. AtZAT6-overexpressing plants exhibited improved resistance to pathogen infection, salt, drought, and freezing stresses, while AtZAT6 knockdown plants showed decreased stress resistance. AtZAT6 positively modulates expression levels of stress-related genes by directly binding to the TACAAT motifs in the promoter region of pathogen-related genes (ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY1, PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT4, PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENE1 [PR1], PR2, and PR5) and abiotic stress-responsive genes (C-REPEAT-BINDING FACTOR1 [CBF1], CBF2, and CBF3). Moreover, overexpression of AtZAT6 exhibited pleiotrophic phenotypes with curly leaves and small-sized plant at vegetative stage and reduced size of floral organs and siliques at the reproductive stage. Modulation of AtZAT6 also positively regulates the accumulation of salicylic acid and reactive oxygen species (hydrogen peroxide and superoxide radical). Taken together, our findings indicated that AtZAT6 plays important roles in plant development and positively modulates biotic and abiotic stress resistance by activating the expression levels of salicylic acid-related genes and CBF genes.