Abstract
Mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades are highly conserved signaling modules downstream of receptors/sensors and play pivotal roles in signaling plant defense against pathogen attack. Extensive studies on Arabidopsis MPK4 have implicated that the MAP kinase is involved in multilayered plant defense pathways. In this study, we identified tobacco NtMPK2 as an ortholog of AtMPK4. Transgenic tobacco overexpressing NtMPK2 markedly enhances resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000) virulent and avirulent strains. Transcriptome analysis of NtMPK2-dependent genes shows that possibly the basal resistance system is activated by NtMPK2 overexpression. In addition to NtMPK2-mediated resistance, multiple pathways are involved in response to the avirulent bacteria based on analysis of Pst-responding genes, including SA and ET pathways. Notably, it is possible that biosynthesis of antibacterial compounds is responsible for inhibition of Pst DC3000 avirulent strain when programmed cell death processes in the host. Our results uncover that NtMPK2 positively regulate tobacco defense response to Pst DC3000 and improve our understanding of plant molecular defense mechanism.
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Acknowledgments
The research was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2012CB114600) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. XDJK2013C043).
Author’s contribution
XZ and QX designed the project. XZ, GW, JG, MN and WL performed the experimental analysis. XZ performed the bioinformatics analysis and wrote the manuscript. All of the authors have read the manuscript and approved the submission.
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Supplementary Table 1
The primer sequences used in this study (DOC 41 kb)
Supplementary Table 2
Statistics of sequencing and de novo assembly (DOC 33 kb)
Supplementary Fig. 1
Screening of NtMPK2-OX T1 generation transgenic lines using Hygromycin antibiotics (PNG 196 kb)
Supplementary Fig. 2
H2O2 accumulation in WT and TG19 tobacco (JP2 2758 kb)
Supplementary Fig. 3
QRT-PCR validation of differentially expressed genes (JPEG 32 kb)
Supplementary Fig. 4
QRT-PCR analysis of 4 selected genes (JPEG 57 kb)
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Zhang, X., Wang, G., Gao, J. et al. Functional analysis of NtMPK2 uncovers its positive role in response to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 in tobacco. Plant Mol Biol 90, 19–31 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-015-0391-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-015-0391-1