Inappropriate annotation of a key defence marker in Arabidopsis: will the real PR-1 please stand up?

Planta. 2004 Oct;219(6):1089-92. doi: 10.1007/s00425-004-1355-x. Epub 2004 Aug 4.

Abstract

PR-1 has been extensively used as a marker for salicylic acid (SA)-mediated defence and systemic and local acquired resistance. The Arabidopsis Genome Project annotates At2g19990 as PR-1. This gene is also identified as PR-1 in two "full genome" Arabidopsis microarrays, and TAIR cites approximately 60 articles to describe its patterns of expression. However, most of these citations are incorrect; the probes used were not At2g19990, but a homologous gene At2g14610, which is annotated as "PR-1-like". Because of the potential for confusion, we analyzed the expression of both genes in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. At2g14610 (PR-1-like) showed the archetypal patterns of SA-responsive expression: mRNA levels increased following SA-treatment, inoculation with an avirulent (but not a virulent) strain of Pseudomonas syringae, and in wild-type (but not NahG) Arabidopsis infected with cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV). In cpr5 mutants it was expressed constitutively. In contrast, expression of At2g19990 (annotated as PR-1) was detectable in neither SA-treated Col-0 nor in cpr5. Infection by virulent and avirulent isolates of P. syringae up-regulated expression, but to a similar level, and infection by CaMV induced a modest increase in expression in both the wild type and NahG. At2g19990, although pathogen responsive, does not show the SA-dependent patterns of expression expected from a member of the PR-1 regulon, and its annotation as " PR-1" is inappropriate. The annotations should identify At2g14610 as the authentic PR-1.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism*
  • Arabidopsis / microbiology
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Plant Diseases
  • Plant Leaves / metabolism
  • Pseudomonas syringae
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • RNA, Plant / metabolism

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • RNA, Messenger
  • RNA, Plant
  • PR-1 protein, Arabidopsis