Abstract
WRKY transcription factors (TFs) play key roles in plant defense responses through phytohormone signaling pathways. However, their functions in tropical fruit crops, especially in banana, remain largely unknown. Several WRKY genes from the model plants rice (OsWRKY45) and Arabidopsis (AtWRKY18, AtWRKY60, AtWRKY70) have shown to be attractive TFs for engineering disease resistance. In this study, we isolated four banana cDNAs (MaWRKY18, MaWRKY45, MaWRKY60, and MaWRKY70) with homology to these rice and ArabidopsisWRKY genes. The MaWRKY cDNAs were isolated from the wild banana Musa acuminata ssp. malaccensis, which is resistant to several diseases of this crop and is a progenitor of most banana cultivars. The deduced amino acid sequences of the four MaWRKY cDNAs revealed the presence of the conserved WRKY domain of ~60 amino acids and a zinc-finger motif at the N-terminus. Based on the number of WRKY repeats and the structure of the zinc-finger motif, MaWRKY18 and MaWRKY60 belong to group II of WRKY TFs, while MaWRKY45 and MaWRKY70 are members of group III. Their corresponding proteins were located in the nuclei of onion epidermal cells and were shown to be functional TFs in yeast cells. Moreover, expression analyses revealed that the majority of these MaWRKY genes were upregulated by salicylic acid (SA) or methyl jasmonate (MeJA) phytohormones, although the expression levels were relatively higher with MeJA treatment. The fact that most of these banana WRKY genes were upregulated by SA or MeJA, which are involved in systemic acquired resistance (SAR) or induced systemic resistance (ISR), respectively, make them interesting candidates for bioengineering broad-spectrum resistance in this crop.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
MaWRKY18 and MaWRKY60 belong to WRKY group II.
Verbatim
e1“especially in banana, remain largely unknown”
e2“MaWRKY18 and MaWRKY60 belong to group II of WRKY TFs”
Claim · model-written summary
MaWRKY45 and MaWRKY70 are members of WRKY group III.
Verbatim
e1“especially in banana, remain largely unknown”
e3“MaWRKY45 and MaWRKY70 are members of group III”
Claim · model-written summary
The MaWRKY proteins were located in the nuclei of onion epidermal cells.
Verbatim
e1“especially in banana, remain largely unknown”
e4“Their corresponding proteins were located in the nuclei of onion epidermal cells”
Claim · model-written summary
The MaWRKY proteins were functional transcription factors in yeast cells.
Verbatim
e1“especially in banana, remain largely unknown”
e5“were shown to be functional TFs in yeast cells”
Claim · model-written summary
Most MaWRKY genes were upregulated by salicylic acid (SA) or methyl jasmonate (MeJA).
- Taxon
- bananae1
- Treatment
- salicylic acid (SA) or methyl jasmonate (MeJA)e6
- Outcome
- expression levelse7
- Direction
- upregulatede6
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e1“especially in banana, remain largely unknown”
e6“the majority of these MaWRKY genes were upregulated by salicylic acid (SA) or methyl jasmonate (MeJA) phytohormones”
e7“although the expression levels were relatively higher with MeJA treatment”
Claim · model-written summary
Expression levels of MaWRKY genes were relatively higher with MeJA treatment.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e1“especially in banana, remain largely unknown”
e7“although the expression levels were relatively higher with MeJA treatment”
Claim · model-written summary
The MaWRKY genes are candidates for bioengineering broad-spectrum resistance in banana.
Verbatim
e1“especially in banana, remain largely unknown”
e2“make them interesting candidates for bioengineering broad-spectrum resistance in this crop”
The same questions in other papers
(-)-methyl jasmonate · molecular: expression · MusaResults agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
salicylic acid · molecular: expression · MusaResults agree
3 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.