Pathogen-Induced Arabidopsis WRKY7 Is a Transcriptional Repressor and Enhances Plant Susceptibility to Pseudomonas syringae

Abstract The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) WRKY7 gene is induced by pathogen infection and salicylic acid (SA) treatment and may therefore play a role in plant defense responses. Here, we show that WRKY7 is localized in the nucleus, recognizes DNA molecules with the W-box (TTGAC) elements, and functions as a transcriptional repressor in plant cells. To study its biological functions directly, we have characterized both loss-of-function T-DNA insertion and RNAi mutants and gain-of-function transgenic overexpression plants for WRKY7 in Arabidopsis. The T-DNA insertion and RNAi mutant plants displayed enhanced resistance to a virulent strain of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae as measured by significant decrease in both bacterial growth and symptom development as compared to those in wild-type plants. The enhanced resistance in the loss-of-function mutants was associated with increased induction of SA-regulated Pathogenesis-Related 1 (PR1) by the bacterial pathogen. Transgenic plants that constitutively overexpress WRKY7 have altered leaf growth and morphology strikingly similar to those observed in the previously isolated eds8 mutant plants. Like eds8 mutant plants, WRKY7-overexpressing plants supported more growth of P. syringae and developed more severe disease symptoms than wild-type plants. The enhanced susceptibility of both the WRKY7-overexpressing plants and the eds8 mutant correlated with reduced expression of defense-related genes, including PR1, but significantly increased accumulation of SA after pathogen infection, probably due to reduced negative feedback of SA synthesis. Thus, pathogen-induced WRKY7 transcription factor play a negative role in defense responses to P. syringae.