Disease resistance is associated with a plant defense response that involves an integrated set of signal transduction pathways. Changes in the expression patterns of 2,375 selected genes were examined simultaneously by cDNA microarray analysis inArabidopsis thalianaafter inoculation with an incompatible fungal pathogenAlternaria brassicicolaor treatment with the defense-related signaling molecules salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate (MJ), or ethylene. Substantial changes (up- and down-regulation) in the steady-state abundance of 705 mRNAs were observed in response to one or more of the treatments, including known and putative defense-related genes and 106 genes with no previously described function or homology. In leaf tissue inoculated withA. brassicicola,the abundance of 168 mRNAs was increased more than 2.5-fold, whereas that of 39 mRNAs was reduced. Similarly, the abundance of 192, 221, and 55 mRNAs was highly (>2.5-fold) increased after treatment with SA, MJ, and ethylene, respectively. Data analysis revealed a surprising level of coordinated defense responses, including 169 mRNAs regulated by multiple treatments/defense pathways. The largest number of genes coinduced (one of four induced genes) and corepressed was found after treatments with SA and MJ. In addition, 50% of the genes induced by ethylene treatment were also induced by MJ treatment. These results indicated the existence of a substantial network of regulatory interactions and coordination occurring during plant defense among the different defense signaling pathways, notably between the salicylate and jasmonate pathways that were previously thought to act in an antagonistic fashion.

The plant hormones abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA), and ethylene are involved in diverse plant processes, including the regulation of gene expression during adaptive responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. Previously, ABA has been implicated in enhancing disease susceptibility in various plant species, but currently very little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. In this study, we obtained evidence that a complex interplay between ABA and JA-ethylene signaling pathways regulate plant defense gene expression and disease resistance. First, we showed that exogenous ABA suppressed both basal and JA-ethylene–activated transcription from defense genes. By contrast, ABA deficiency as conditioned by the mutations in the ABA1 and ABA2 genes, which encode enzymes involved in ABA biosynthesis, resulted in upregulation of basal and induced transcription from JA-ethylene responsive defense genes. Second, we found that disruption of AtMYC2 (allelic to JASMONATE INSENSITIVE1 [JIN1]), encoding a basic helix-loop-helix Leu zipper transcription factor, which is a positive regulator of ABA signaling, results in elevated levels of basal and activated transcription from JA-ethylene responsive defense genes. Furthermore, the jin1/myc2 and aba2-1 mutants showed increased resistance to the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum. Finally, using ethylene and ABA signaling mutants, we showed that interaction between ABA and ethylene signaling is mutually antagonistic in vegetative tissues. Collectively, our results indicate that the antagonistic interactions between multiple components of ABA and the JA-ethylene signaling pathways modulate defense and stress responsive gene expression in response to biotic and abiotic stresses.

Summary: The plant hormone ethylene negatively regulates bacterial infection and nodule formation in legumes in response to symbiotic rhizobia, but the molecular mechanism(s) of ethylene action in symbiosis remain obscure. We have identified and characterized multiple mutant alleles of the MtSkl1 gene, which controls both ethylene sensitivity and nodule numbers. We show that this locus encodes the Medicago truncatula ortholog of the Arabidopsis ethylene signaling protein EIN2. In addition to the well‐characterized role of MtSkl1 in rhizobial symbiosis, we show that MtSkl1 is involved in regulating early phases of the symbiotic interaction with mycorrhizal fungi, and in mediating root responses to cytokinin. MtSkl1 also functions in the defense against Rhizoctonia solani and Phytophthora medicaginis, with the latter interaction likely to involve positive feedback amplification of ethylene biosynthesis. Overexpression of the C‐terminal domain of MtEIN2 is sufficient to block nodulation responses, consistent with previous reports in Arabidopsis on the activation of ethylene signaling. This same C‐terminal region is uniquely conserved throughout the EIN2 homologs of angiosperms, which is consistent with its role as a higher plant‐specific innovation essential to EIN2 function.

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are encoded by large gene families in plants. Although these proteins are potentially involved in a number of diverse plant processes, currently, very little is known about their actual functions. In this paper, through a cDNA microarray screening of anonymous cDNA clones from a subtractive library, we identified an Arabidopsis gene (AtPDR12) putatively encoding a member of the pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR) subfamily of ABC transporters. AtPDR12 displayed distinct induction profiles after inoculation of plants with compatible and incompatible fungal pathogens and treatments with salicylic acid, ethylene, or methyl jasmonate. Analysis of AtPDR12 expression in a number of Arabidopsis defense signaling mutants further revealed that salicylic acid accumulation, NPR1 function, and sensitivity to jasmonates and ethylene were all required for pathogen-responsive expression of AtPDR12. Germination assays using seeds from an AtPDR12 insertion line in the presence of sclareol resulted in lower germination rates and much stronger inhibition of root elongation in the AtPDR12 insertion line than in wild-type plants. These results suggest that AtPDR12 may be functionally related to the previously identified ABC transporters SpTUR2 and NpABC1, which transport sclareol. Our data also point to a potential role for terpenoids in the Arabidopsis defensive armory.

The analysis of plant–pathogen interactions is a rapidly moving research field and one that is very important for productive agricultural systems. The focus of this review is on the evolution of plant defence responses and the coevolution of their pathogens, primarily from a molecular-genetic perspective. It explores the evolution of the major types of plant defence responses including pathogen associated molecular patterns and effector triggered immunity as well as the forces driving pathogen evolution, such as the mechanisms by which pathogen lineages and species evolve. Advances in our understanding of plant defence signalling, stomatal regulation, R gene–effector interactions and host specific toxins are used to highlight recent insights into the coevolutionary arms race between pathogens and plants. Finally, the review considers the intriguing question of how plants have evolved the ability to distinguish friends such as rhizobia and mycorrhiza from their many foes.

We had previously shown that several transcription factors of the ethylene (ET) response factor (ERF) family were induced with different but overlapping kinetics following challenge of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) with Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato DC3000 (avrRpt2). One of these genes, a transcriptional activator, AtERF14, was induced at the same time as ERF-target genes (ChiB, basic chitinase). To unravel the potential function of AtERF14 in regulating the plant defense response, we have analyzed gain- and loss-of-function mutants. We show here that AtERF14 has a prominent role in the plant defense response, since overexpression of AtERF14 had dramatic effects on both plant phenotype and defense gene expression and AtERF14 loss-of-function mutants showed impaired induction of defense genes following exogenous ET treatment and increased susceptibility to Fusarium oxysporum. Moreover, the expression of other ERF genes involved in defense and ET/jasmonic acid responses, such as ERF1 and AtERF2, depends on AtERF14 expression. A number of ERFs have been shown to function in the defense response through overexpression. However, the effect of loss of AtERF14 function on defense gene expression, pathogen resistance, and regulation of the expression of other ERF genes is unique thus far. These results suggest a unique role for AtERF14 in regulating the plant defense response.