Journal Article

MYC2 Orchestrates a Hierarchical Transcriptional Cascade That Regulates Jasmonate-Mediated Plant Immunity in Tomato

Yang, Tianxia, Du, Minmin, Tzeng, David T.W., Zhong, Silin, Zhou, Ming, Wu, Fangming, Chen, Qian, Deng, Lei, Li, Chang-Bao, Zhai, Qingzhe, Li, Chuanyou, Wang, Qiaomei, Zhao, Jiuhai, Liu, Yuanyuan, Huang, Zhuo

2017

Overview

The hormone jasmonate (JA), which functions in plant immunity, regulates resistance to pathogen infection and insect attack through triggering genome-wide transcriptional reprogramming in plants. We show that the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor (TF) MYC2 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) acts downstream of the JA receptor to orchestrate JA-mediated activation of both the wounding and pathogen responses. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) coupled with RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) assays, we identified 655 MYC2-targeted JA-responsive genes. These genes are highly enriched in Gene Ontology categories related to TFs and the early response to JA, indicating that MYC2 functions at a high hierarchical level to regulate JA-mediated gene transcription. We also identified a group of MYC2-targeted TFs (MTFs) that may directly regulate the JA-induced transcription of late defense genes. Our findings suggest that MYC2 and its downstream MTFs form a hierarchical transcriptional cascade during JA-mediated plant immunity that initiates and amplifies transcriptional output. As proof of concept, we showed that during plant resistance to the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea, MYC2 and the MTF JA2-Like form a transcription module that preferentially regulates wounding-responsive genes, whereas MYC2 and the MTF ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR.C3 form a transcription module that preferentially regulates pathogen-responsive genes.

• Publisher: American Society of Plant Biologists
• Subject: Amino Acid Motifs / Binding Sites / Botrytis - physiology / Chromatin / Cyclopentanes - pharmacology / Disease Resistance - drug effects / Disease Resistance - genetics / Gene Expression Profiling / Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - drug effects / Gene Ontology / Gene sequencing / Genes / Genes, Plant / Genomes / Helix-loop-helix proteins (basic) / Immunity / Immunoprecipitation / Jasmonic acid / Lycopersicon esculentum - drug effects / Lycopersicon esculentum - genetics / Lycopersicon esculentum - immunology / Models, Biological / Oxylipins - pharmacology / Pathogens / Plant Diseases - microbiology / Plant immunity / Plant Immunity - drug effects / Plant Immunity - genetics / Plant Proteins - metabolism / Plant resistance / Promoter Regions, Genetic - genetics / Protein Binding - drug effects / Ribonucleic acid / RNA / Sequence Analysis, RNA / Solanum lycopersicum / Tomatoes / Transcription factors / Transcription, Genetic - drug effects / Transcriptome - genetics / Wounding