Ethylene response factor 1 mediates Arabidopsis resistance to the soilborne fungus Fusarium oxysporum

Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 2004 Jul;17(7):763-70. doi: 10.1094/MPMI.2004.17.7.763.

Abstract

Ethylene response factor 1 (ERF1) is a transcriptional factor from Arabidopsis thaliana that regulates plant resistance to the necrotrophic fungi Botrytis cinerea and Plectosphaerella cucumerina and whose overexpression enhances resistance to these fungi. Here, we show that ERF1 also mediates Arabidopsis resistance to the soilborne fungi Fusarium oxysporum sp. conglutinans and F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, because its constitutive expression in Arabidopsis confers enhanced resistance to these pathogens. Expression of ERF1 was upregulated after inoculation with F. oxysporum f. sp. conglutinans, and this response was blocked in ein2-5 and coi1-1 mutants, impaired in the ethylene (ET) and jasmonic acid (JA) signal pathways, respectively, which further indicates that ERF1 is a downstream component of ET and JA defense responses. The signal transduction network controlling resistance to F. oxysporum fungi was explored using signaling-defective mutants in ET (ein2-5), JA (jar1-1), and salicylic acid (SA) (NahG, sid2-1, eds5-1, npr1-1, pad4-1, eds1-1, and pad2-1) transduction pathways. This analysis revealed that Arabidopsis resistance to F. oxysporum requires the ET, JA, and SA signaling pathways and the NPR1 gene, although it is independent of the PAD4 and EDS1 functions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / drug effects*
  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / microbiology
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism
  • Cyclopentanes / pharmacology
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Ethylenes / pharmacology*
  • Fusarium / growth & development*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Immunity, Innate / genetics
  • Mutation
  • Nuclear Proteins / genetics*
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism
  • Oxylipins
  • Plant Diseases / genetics
  • Plant Diseases / microbiology
  • Plant Growth Regulators / pharmacology
  • Plant Proteins
  • Salicylic Acid / pharmacology
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Signal Transduction / genetics
  • Soil Microbiology
  • Transcription Factors

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Cyclopentanes
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Ethylenes
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • Oxylipins
  • Plant Growth Regulators
  • Plant Proteins
  • Transcription Factors
  • ethylene-responsive element binding protein
  • jasmonic acid
  • ethylene
  • Salicylic Acid