A Novel Soybean ERF Transcription Factor, GmERF113, Increases Resistance to Phytophthora sojae Infection in Soybean.

Yuanling Zhao,Qun Cheng,Xin Chang,Dan Han,Liangyu Jiang,Sujie Fan,Dongyue Qi,Guangjin Wang,Pengfei Xu,Shuzhen Zhang,Lidong Dong,Xi Chen

doi:10.3389/fpls.2017.00299

Abstract

Phytophthora root and stem rot of soybean caused by the oomycete Phytophthora sojae, is a destructive disease worldwide. Ethylene response factors (ERFs) play important roles in regulating plant biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. In this study, a new ERF gene, GmERF113, was isolated from the highly resistant soybean ‘Suinong 10.’ Sequence analysis suggested that the protein encoded by GmERF113 contained a conserved AP2/ERF domain of 58 amino acid and belonged to the B-4 subgroup of the ERF subfamily. Expression of GmERF113 was significantly induced by P. sojae, ethylene, and methyl jasmonate. GmERF113 protein localized to the nucleus when transiently expressed in Arabidopsis protoplasts, could bind to the GCC-box, and acted as a transcription activator. In addition, a region of the full-length GmERF113, GmERF113-II, interacted with a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor (GmbHLH) in yeast cells. Full-length GmERF113 also interacted with GmbHLH in planta. GmERF113-overexpressing transgenic plants in susceptible cultivar ‘Dongnong 50’ soybean exhibited increased resistance to P. sojae and positively regulated the expression of the pathogenesis-related genes, PR1 and PR10-1. These results indicate that GmERF113 may play a crucial role in the defense of soybean against P. sojae infection.

Highlights

Phytophthora root rot, caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora sojae, is a destructive disease of soybean worldwide (Wrather et al, 1997; Tyler, 2007) which commonly reduces soybean yields by between 10 and 40% (Bailey et al, 2003); severe infection can even result in a total yield loss (Zhang S.Z. et al, 2010)
Our results showed that the four proteins could not activate transcription in yeast cells, and only GmbHLH interacted with GmERF113-II (Figure 6A), while the other three candidate proteins could not interact with GmERF113-II in yeast
ethylene responsive factors (ERFs) transcription factors have been identified in numerous plant species, including Arabidopsis thaliana (Liu et al, 1998; Nakano et al, 2006; Son et al, 2012), rice (Cao et al, 2006; Zhang et al, 2013), wheat (Xu et al, 2007), cotton (Huang et al, 2007; Jin and Liu, 2008), tomato (Sharma et al, 2010), cucumber (Hu and Liu, 2011), tobacco (Fischer and Droge-Laser, 2004), Chinese wild grapevine (Zhu et al, 2013), and peanut (Wan et al, 2014), among others

Summary

Introduction

Phytophthora root rot, caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora sojae, is a destructive disease of soybean worldwide (Wrather et al, 1997; Tyler, 2007) which commonly reduces soybean yields by between 10 and 40% (Bailey et al, 2003); severe infection can even result in a total yield loss (Zhang S.Z. et al, 2010). CBF/DREB transcription factors contain valine (V) and glutamic acid (E) in the conserved DNA-binding domain, and are further sub-classified into A1 to A-6 subgroups on the basis of their conserved domains (Sakuma et al, 2002). These proteins are primarily involved in responses to abiotic stress through recognition of dehydrationresponsive or cold-repeat elements (DRE/CRT) containing the core motif, A/GCCGAC (Yamaguchi-Shinozaki and Shinozaki, 1994; Thomashow, 1999). ERFs bind to the cis-acting GCC-box (AGCCGCC) element, to mediate their crucial role in the response of plants to biotic stress (Ohme-Takagi and Shinshi, 1995; Hao et al, 1998)

Methods

Results

Conclusion