OXR2 increases plant defense against a hemibiotrophic pathogen via the salicylic acid pathway

MENCIA, REGINA; CÉCCOLI, GABRIEL; FABRO, GEORGINA; TORTI, PABLO; COLOMBATTI, FRANCISCO; LUDWIG-MÜLLER, JUTTA; ALVAREZ, MARIA ELENA; WELCHEN, ELINA

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY.

AMER SOC PLANT BIOLOGISTS

Año: 2020

0032-0889

rabidopsis thaliana OXIDATION RESISTANCE 2 (AtOXR2) is a mitochondrial proteinbelonging to the Oxidation Resistance (OXR) protein family, recently described in plants. Weanalyzed the impact of AtOXR2 in Arabidopsis defense mechanisms against thehemibiotrophic bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. oxr2 mutant plants are moresusceptible to infection by the pathogen and, conversely, plants over-expressing AtOXR2(oeOXR2 plants) show enhanced disease resistance. Resistance in these plants is accompaniedby higher expression of WRKY transcription factors, induction of genes involved in salicylicacid (SA) synthesis, accumulation of free SA, and overall activation of the SA-signalingpathway. Accordingly, defense phenotypes are dependent on SA-synthesis and SA-perceptionpathways, since they are lost in ics1/sid2 (isochorismate synthase 1/salicylic acid inductiondeficient 2) and npr1 (nonexpressor of pathogenesis-related genes 1) mutant backgrounds.Over-expression of AtOXR2 leads to faster an