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WRKY 40 and WRKY 6 act downstream of the green leaf volatile E ‐2‐hexenal in Arabidopsis
Author(s) -
Mirabella Rossana,
Rauwerda Han,
Allmann Silke,
Scala Alessandra,
Spyropoulou Eleni A.,
Vries Michel,
Boersma Maaike R.,
Breit Timo M.,
Haring Michel A.,
Schuurink Robert C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/tpj.12953
Subject(s) - wrky protein domain , mutant , arabidopsis , abscisic acid , transcriptome , gene , arabidopsis thaliana , biology , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , gene expression
Summary Plants are known to be responsive to volatiles, but knowledge about the molecular players involved in transducing their perception remains scarce. We study the response of Arabidopsis thaliana to E ‐2‐hexenal, one of the green leaf volatiles ( GLV ) that is produced upon wounding, herbivory or infection with pathogens. We have taken a transcriptomics approach to identify genes that are induced by E ‐2‐hexenal, but not by defence hormones or other GLV s. Furthermore, by studying the promoters of early E ‐2‐hexenal‐induced genes we determined that the only statistically enriched cis ‐element was the W‐box motif. Since members of the plant‐specific family of WRKY transcription factors act in trans on this cis ‐element, we focused on WRKY 6, 40 and 53 that were most strongly induced by E ‐2‐hexenal. Root elongation of Arabidopsis seedlings of the wrky40 wrky6 double mutant was much less inhibited than in wt plants, similar to the E ‐2‐hexenal‐responsive mutant her1, which is perturbed in γ‐amino butyric acid ( GABA ) metabolism. The induction of several of the E ‐2‐hexenal‐specific genes was much higher in the wrky40, wrky6 or wrky40 wrky6 mutants, including GAD 4, a glutamate decarboxylase that catalyzes the formation of GABA from glutamate. In conclusion, WRKY 6 and 40 seem to act as important players transducing E ‐2‐hexenal perception.