Abstract
Resistance to powdery mildew has been studied in a number of plant species, yet the molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Transcription factors (TFs) play a critical role in the plant defense response by regulating the transcriptional machinery which coordinates the expression of a large group of genes involved in plant defense. Using high-throughput quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) technology more than 1000 Medicago truncatula TFs were screened in a pair of susceptible and resistant genotypes of M. truncatula after 4 h of Erysiphe pisi infection. Seventy nine TF genes, belonging to 33 families showed a significant transcriptional change in response to E. pisi infection. Forty eight TF genes were differentially expressed in the resistant genotypes compared to the susceptible one in response to E. pisi infection, including pathogenesis-related transcriptional factors, AP2/EREBP (APETALA2/ETHYLENE-RESPONSIVE ELEMENT BINDING FACTORS), WRKY (highly conserved WRKYGQK amino-acid sequence), MYB (Myeloblastoma), homeodomain (HD) and zinc finger C2C2 (CYS2-CYS2), C2H2, (CYS2-HIS2), LIM (Lin-11, Isl-1, Mec-3) gene families, which are involved in known defense responses. Our results suggest that these TF genes are among the E. pisi responsive genes in resistant M. truncatula that may constitute a regulatory network which controls the transcriptional changes in defense genes involved in resistance to E. pisi.
Highlights
Plants grown in the natural environment are confronted by a variety of pathogens
We selected Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 9 (UBC9) and Helicase as the best reference genes for this experiment, which were used for transcript normalization of the analyzed Transcription factors (TFs) genes
Our results reveal a subset of TF genes that encode TFs with a HD protein domain, which showed a different expression pattern in the resistant SA1306 compared to the susceptible Parabinga genotype in response to E. pisi infection
Summary
Remaining healthy depends on their ability to recognize pathogens and to activate defense mechanisms against them. The plant defense responses are regulated by a broad number of signaling pathways. Transcription factors (TFs) control the transfer of genetic information from DNA to RNA by activation or repression of transcription, playing important roles in plant development and defense by regulating different signaling pathways (Singh et al, 2002; Udvardi et al, 2007). Many biologic processes, including responses to pathogens, are controlled by multiple genes managed by TFs (Singh et al, 2002). Several analyses have shown their differential expression in plants as responses to interactions with biotic and abiotic effectors (Udvardi et al, 2007).
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