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The maize transcription factor EREB 58 mediates the jasmonate‐induced production of sesquiterpene volatiles
Author(s) -
Li Shengyan,
Wang Hai,
Li Fengqi,
Chen Zhongliang,
Li Xiuying,
Zhu Li,
Wang Guirong,
Yu Jingjuan,
Huang Dafang,
Lang Zhihong
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.12994
Subject(s) - jasmonate , methyl jasmonate , transcription factor , biology , arabidopsis , transgene , promoter , plant defense against herbivory , transcription (linguistics) , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , transformation (genetics) , herbivore , botany , genetics , gene expression , mutant , linguistics , philosophy
Summary Over the past two decades, Zea mays (maize) has been established as a model system for the study of indirect plant defense against herbivores. When attacked by lepidopteran larvae, maize leaves emit a complex blend of volatiles, mainly composed of sesquiterpenes, to attract the natural enemies of the herbivores. This is associated with a swift transcriptional induction of terpene synthases such as TPS 10 ; however, the molecular components controlling the complex transcriptional reprogramming in this process are still obscure. Here, by exploiting the finding that the maize TPS 10 promoter retained its full responsiveness to herbivory in Arabidopsis, we identified the region from −300 to −200 of the TPS 10 promoter as both necessary and sufficient for its herbivore inducibility through 5′ deletion mapping. A high‐throughput screening of an Arabidopsis transcription factor library using this promoter region as the bait identified seven AP 2/ ERF family transcription factors. Among their close homologs in maize, EREB 58 was the only gene responsive to herbivory, with a spatiotemporal expression pattern highly similar to that of TPS 10 . Meanwhile, EREB 58 was also responsive to Jasmonate. In vivo and in vitro assays indicated that EREB 58 promotes TPS 10 expression by directly binding to the GCC ‐box within the region from −300 to −200 of the TPS 10 promoter. Transgenic maize plants overexpressing EREB 58 constitutively over‐accumulate TPS 10 transcript, and also (E) ‐β‐farnesene and (E) ‐α‐bergamotene, two major sesquiterpenes produced by TPS 10. In contrast, jasmonate induction of TPS 10 and its volatiles was abolished in EREB 58‐ RNA i transgenic lines. In sum, these results demonstrate that EREB 58 is a positive regulator of sesquiterpene production by directly promoting TPS 10 expression.