Screen Identifying Arabidopsis Transcription Factors Involved in the Response to 9-Lipoxygenase-Derived Oxylipins

PLoS One. 2016 Apr 13;11(4):e0153216. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153216. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

13-Lipoxygenase-derived oxylipins, such as jasmonates act as potent signaling molecules in plants. Although experimental evidence supports the impact of oxylipins generated by the 9-Lipoxygenase (9-LOX) pathway in root development and pathogen defense, their signaling function in plants remains largely elusive. Based on the root growth inhibiting properties of the 9-LOX-oxylipin 9-HOT (9-hydroxy-10,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid), we established a screening approach aiming at identifying transcription factors (TFs) involved in signaling and/or metabolism of this oxylipin. Making use of the AtTORF-Ex (Arabidopsis thaliana Transcription Factor Open Reading Frame Expression) collection of plant lines overexpressing TF genes, we screened for those TFs which restore root growth on 9-HOT. Out of 6,000 lines, eight TFs were recovered at least three times and were therefore selected for detailed analysis. Overexpression of the basic leucine Zipper (bZIP) TF TGA5 and its target, the monoxygenase CYP81D11 reduced the effect of added 9-HOT, presumably due to activation of a detoxification pathway. The highly related ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTORs ERF106 and ERF107 induce a broad detoxification response towards 9-LOX-oxylipins and xenobiotic compounds. From a set of 18 related group S-bZIP factors isolated in the screen, bZIP11 is known to participate in auxin-mediated root growth and may connect oxylipins to root meristem function. The TF candidates isolated in this screen provide starting points for further attempts to dissect putative signaling pathways involving 9-LOX-derived oxylipins.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / drug effects
  • Arabidopsis / genetics*
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / drug effects*
  • Genes, Plant / drug effects
  • Linolenic Acids / pharmacology*
  • Oxylipins / pharmacology*
  • Plant Roots / drug effects*
  • Plant Roots / metabolism
  • Plants, Genetically Modified
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Transcription Factors / genetics*
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism

Substances

  • Linolenic Acids
  • Oxylipins
  • Transcription Factors
  • 9-hydroxy-10,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid

Grants and funding

The project was funded by the Graduate School “Lipid Signaling” (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, GK1342) (http://www.dfg.de/en/). Recipient: EW. Project leaders: MJM, WDL. This publication was funded by DFG and the University of Wuerzburg in the funding programme Open Access Publishing. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.