Arabidopsis VQ motif-containing proteins VQ12 and VQ29 negatively modulate basal defense against Botrytis cinerea.

ABSTRACT: Arabidopsis VQ motif-containing proteins have recently been demonstrated to interact with several WRKY transcription factors; however, their specific biological functions and the molecular mechanisms underlying their involvement in defense responses remain largely unclear. Here, we showed that two VQ genes, VQ12 and VQ29, were highly responsive to the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea. To characterize their roles in plant defense, we generated amiR-vq12 transgenic plants by using an artificial miRNA approach to suppress the expression of VQ12, and isolated a loss-of-function mutant of VQ29. Phenotypic analysis showed that decreasing the expression of VQ12 and VQ29 simultaneously rendered the amiR-vq12 vq29 double mutant plants resistant against B. cinerea. Consistently, the B.

SUBMITTER: Wang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4585807 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature