State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 611130, China.
Triticeae Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 611130, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2024 Nov 23;24(1):1116. doi: 10.1186/s12870-024-05843-6.
Zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) are important regulators in abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in plants. However, the role of the ZFPs in wheat responding to pathogen infection is poorly understood.
In this study, we found TaZFP8-5B was down-regulated by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) infection. TaZFP8-5B possesses a single C2H2-type zinc finger domain with a plant-specific QALGGH motif, and an EAR motif (LxLxL) at the C-terminus. The EAR motif represses the trans-activation ability of TaZFP8-5B. Knocking down the expression of TaZFP8 by virus-induced gene silencing increased wheat resistance to Pst, whereas TaZFP8-5B-overexpressing reduced wheat resistance to stripe rust and rice resistance to Magnaporthe oryzae, suggesting that TaZFP8-5B plays a negative role in the modulation of plant immunity. Using bimolecular fluorescence complementation, split-luciferase, and yeast two-hybrid assays, we showed that TaZFP8-5B interacted with a wheat calmodulin-like protein TaCML21. Knock-down of TaCML21 reduced wheat resistance to Pst.
This study characterized the function of TaZFP8-5B and its interacting protein TaCML21. Our findings provide a new perspective on a regulatory module made up of TaCML21-TaZFP8-5B in plant immunity.
锌指蛋白（ZFPs）是植物中应对非生物和生物胁迫的重要调节因子。然而，ZFPs 在小麦应对病原体感染中的作用还知之甚少。
本研究发现 TaZFP8-5B 受小麦条锈菌（Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici，Pst）感染下调。TaZFP8-5B 具有单个 C2H2 型锌指结构域，包含一个植物特异性的 QALGGH 基序和 C 端的 EAR 基序（LxLxL）。EAR 基序抑制 TaZFP8-5B 的转录激活能力。通过病毒诱导的基因沉默（virus-induced gene silencing，VIGS）敲低 TaZFP8 的表达增加了小麦对 Pst 的抗性，而 TaZFP8-5B 的过表达降低了小麦对条锈病的抗性和水稻对稻瘟病的抗性，表明 TaZFP8-5B 在调节植物免疫中发挥负调控作用。利用双分子荧光互补（bimolecular fluorescence complementation，BiFC）、分裂荧光素酶（split-luciferase）和酵母双杂交（yeast two-hybrid）实验，我们表明 TaZFP8-5B 与一种小麦钙调素样蛋白 TaCML21 互作。敲低 TaCML21 降低了小麦对 Pst 的抗性。
本研究对 TaZFP8-5B 及其互作蛋白 TaCML21 的功能进行了鉴定。我们的研究结果为 TaCML21-TaZFP8-5B 组成的植物免疫调控模块提供了新的视角。
