Promoter-Based Integration in Plant Defense Regulation

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Baohua Li
  • Allison Gaudinier
  • Michelle Tang
  • Mallorie Taylor-Teeples
  • Ngoc T. Nham
  • Cyrus Ghaffari
  • Darik Scott Benson
  • Margaret Steinmann
  • Jennifer A. Gray
  • Siobhan M. Brady
  • Daniel James Kliebenstein
A key unanswered question in plant biology is how a plant regulates metabolism to maximize performance across an array of biotic and abiotic environmental stresses. In this study, we addressed the potential breadth of transcriptional regulation that can alter accumulation of the defensive glucosinolate metabolites in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). A systematic yeast one-hybrid study was used to identify hundreds of unique potential regulatory interactions with a nearly complete complement of 21 promoters for the aliphatic glucosinolate pathway. Conducting high-throughput phenotypic validation, we showed that >75% of tested transcription factor (TF) mutants significantly altered the accumulation of the defensive glucosinolates. These glucosinolate phenotypes were conditional upon the environment and tissue type, suggesting that these TFs may allow the plant to tune its defenses to the local environment. Furthermore, the pattern of TF/promoter interactions could partially explain mutant phenotypes. This work shows that defense chemistry within Arabidopsis has a highly intricate transcriptional regulatory system that may allow for the optimization of defense metabolite accumulation across a broad array of environments.
Original languageEnglish
JournalPlant Physiology
Volume166
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)1803-1820
Number of pages18
ISSN0032-0889
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2014

ID: 138816161