Browsing by Author "Pillai, Shakuntala E."

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    Ectopic expression of a cell-wall-degrading enzyme-induced OsAP2/ERF152 leads to resistance against bacterial and fungal infection in Arabidopsis
    (The American Phytopathological Society, 2020) Pillai, Shakuntala E.; Kumar, Chandan; Dasgupta, Madhumita; Kumar, Bipin K.; Vungarala, Sridivya; Patel, Hitendra K.; Sonti, Ramesh V.
    Pathogen secreted cell-wall-degrading enzymes (CWDEs) induce plant innate immune responses. The expression of rice transcription factor APETALA2/ethylene response factor-152 (OsAP2/ERF152) is enhanced in leaves upon treatment with different CWDEs and upon wounding. Ectopic expression of OsAP2/ERF152 in Arabidopsis leads to induction of immune responses such as callose deposition and upregulation of both salicylic acid- and jasmonic acid/ethylene-responsive defense genes. Arabidopsis transgenics expressing OsAP2/ERF152 exhibited resistance to infections caused by both bacterial and fungal pathogens (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 and Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IA, respectively). Ectopic expression of OsAP2/ERF152 results in transient activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases 3/6 (MPK3/6), which could be leading to the induction of a broad range immunity in Arabidopsis.
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    Overexpression of a cell wall damage induced transcription factor, OsWRKY42, leads to enhanced callose deposition and tolerance to salt stress but does not enhance tolerance to bacterial infection
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2018) Pillai, Shakuntala E.; Kumar, Chandan; Patel, Hitendra K.; Sonti, Ramesh V.
    Background: Members of the WRKY gene family play important roles in regulating plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. Treatment with either one of the two different cell wall degrading enzymes (CWDEs), LipaseA and CellulaseA, induces immune responses and enhances the expression of OsWRKY42 in rice. However, the role of OsWRKY42 in CWDE induced immune responses is not known. Results: Expression of the rice transcription factor OsWRKY42 is induced upon treatment of rice leaves with CWDEs, wounding and salt. Overexpression of OsWRKY42 leads to enhanced callose deposition in rice and Arabidopsis but this does not enhance tolerance to bacterial infection. Upon treatment with NaCl, Arabidopsis transgenic plants expressing OsWRKY42 exhibited high levels of anthocyanin and displayed enhanced tolerance to salt stress. Treatment with either cellulase or salt induced the expression of several genes involved in JA biosynthesis and response in Arabidopsis. Ectopic expression of OsWRKY42 results in reduced expression of cell wall damage and salt stress induced jasmonic acid biosynthesis and response genes. OsWRKY42 expressing Arabidopsis lines exhibited enhanced tolerance to methyl jasmonate mediated growth inhibition. Conclusion: The results presented here suggest that OsWRKY42 regulates plant responses to either cell wall damage or salinity stress by acting as a negative regulator of jasmonic acid mediated responses.