ABSTRACT
Stress can have long-lasting impacts on plants. Here we report the long-term effects of the stress hormone jasmonic acid (JA) on the defence phenotype, transcriptome and DNA methylome of Arabidopsis. Three weeks after transient JA signalling, 5-week-old plants retained induced resistance (IR) against herbivory but showed increased susceptibility to pathogens. Transcriptome analysis revealed long-term priming and/or upregulation of JA-dependent defence genes but repression of ethylene- and salicylic acid-dependent genes. Long-term JA-IR was associated with shifts in glucosinolate composition and required MYC2/3/4 transcription factors, RNA-directed DNA methylation, the DNA demethylase ROS1 and the small RNA (sRNA)-binding protein AGO1. Although methylome analysis did not reveal consistent changes in DNA methylation near MYC2/3/4-controlled genes, JA-treated plants were specifically enriched with hypomethylated ATREP2 transposable elements (TEs). Epigenomic characterization of mutants and transgenic lines revealed that ATREP2 TEs are regulated by RdDM and ROS1 and produce 21 nt sRNAs that bind to nuclear AGO1. Since ATREP2 TEs are enriched with sequences from IR-related defence genes, our results suggest that AGO1-associated sRNAs from hypomethylated ATREP2 TEs trans-regulate long-lasting memory of JA-dependent immunity.
Subject(s)
Arabidopsis Proteins , Arabidopsis , Arabidopsis Proteins/genetics , Arabidopsis Proteins/metabolism , DNA Demethylation , Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/genetics , Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/metabolism , Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/pharmacology , Proto-Oncogene Proteins/genetics , Proto-Oncogene Proteins/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins/pharmacology , Arabidopsis/metabolism , Cyclopentanes/metabolism , Oxylipins/metabolism , RNA/metabolism , Gene Expression Regulation, PlantABSTRACT
Plasma membrane proteolipid 3 (PMP3) is a class of small hydrophobic proteins found in many organisms including higher plants. Some plant PMP3 genes have been shown to respond to abiotic stresses and to participate in the processes of plant stress tolerance. In this study, we isolated the cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) MePMP3-2 gene and functionally characterized its role in tolerance to abiotic stress by expressing it in rice (Oryza sativa L.). MePMP3-2 encodes a 77-amino acid protein belonging to a subgroup of plant PMP3s that have long hydrophylic C-terminal tails of unknown function. In silico analysis and co-localization studies indicated that MePMP3-2 is a plasma membrane protein with two transmembrane domains, similar to other PMP3s. In cassava leaves, MePMP3-2 expression was up-regulated by salt and drought stresses. Heterologous constitutive expression of MePMP3-2 in rice did not alter plant growth and development but increased tolerance to salt and drought stresses. In addition, under stress conditions MePMP3-2 transgenic plants accumulated less malondialdehyde, had increased levels of proline, and exhibited greater up-regulation of the stress-related genes OsProT and OsP5CS, but led to only minor changes in OsDREB2A and OsLEA3 expression. These findings indicate that MePMP3-2 may play an important role in salt and drought stress tolerance in transgenic rice.
