negatively regulates jasmonate-mediated plant defense to .

wilt, caused by , seriously restricts the yield and quality improvement of cotton. Previous studies have revealed the involvement of WRKY members in plant defense against , but the underlying mechanisms involved need to be further elucidated. Here, we demonstrated that WRKY DNA-binding protein 33 () functions as a negative regulator in plant defense against . expression is induced rapidly by and methyl jasmonate, and overexpression of reduces plant tolerance to in . Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that expression of several JA-associated genes was significantly repressed in overexpressing transgenic plants. Yeast one-hybrid analysis revealed that GhWRKY33 may repress the transcription of both and through its binding to their promoters. Protein-protein interaction analysis suggested that GhWRKY33 interacts with JASMONATE ZIM-domain protein 3 (GhJAZ3). Similarly, overexpression of also decreases plant tolerance to . Furthermore, GhJAZ3 acts synergistically with GhWRKY33 to suppress both and expression. Our results imply that may negatively regulate plant tolerance to via the JA-mediated signaling pathway.