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The ABI2-dependent abscisic acid signalling controls HrpN-induced drought tolerance in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

HrpN, a protein produced by the plant pathogenic bacterium Erwinia amylovora, has been shown to stimulate plant growth and resistance to pathogens and insects. Here we report that HrpN activates abscisic acid (ABA) signalling to induce drought tolerance (DT) in Arabidopsis thaliana L. plants grown with water stress. Spraying wild-type plants with HrpN-promoted stomatal closure decreased leaf transpiration rate, increased moisture and proline levels in leaves, and alleviated extents of damage to cell membranes and plant drought symptoms caused by water deficiency. In plants treated with HrpN, ABA levels increased; expression of several ABA-signalling regulatory genes and the important effector gene rd29B was induced or enhanced. Induced expression of rd29B, promotion of stomatal closure, and reduction in drought severity were observed in the abi1-1 mutant, which has a defect in the phosphatase ABI1, after HrpN was applied. In contrast, HrpN failed to induce these responses in the abi2-1 mutant, which is impaired in the phosphatase ABI2. Inhibiting wild-type plants to synthesize ABA eliminated the role of HrpN in promoting stomatal closure and reducing drought severity. Moreover, resistance to Pseudomonas syringae developed in abi2-1 as in wild-type plants following treatment with HrpN. Thus, an ABI2-dependent ABA signalling pathway is responsible for the induction of DT but does not affect pathogen defence under the circumstances of this study.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

abi:

Abscisic acid insensitive

DS:

Drought stress

DT:

Drought tolerance

HR:

Hypersensitive response

SAR:

Systemic acquired resistance

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Steven V. Beer and Ms Jean M. Bonasera (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY) for carefully reading and revising the earlier version of this article, the two anonymous reviewers for their critical comments and suggestions on the manuscript, and Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center (Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA) for supplying seeds used in this study. This study was supported by the China National Natural Science Foundation (30370969) and the Ministry of Education of China Century-Across Talent Award (Jiao-Ke-Han no. 48-2002).

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  1. Hong-Ping Dong

    Present address: College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, 122 Ninghai Road, Nanjing, 210097, China

  2. Jianling Peng

    Present address: Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Science, 1 Anwai-Datun Road, Beijing, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing, 210095, China

    Hong-Ping Dong, Haiqin Yu, Zhilong Bao, Xiaojing Guo, Jianling Peng, Zhen Yao, Guangyong Chen, Shuping Qu & Hansong Dong

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Correspondence to Hansong Dong.

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Hong-Ping Dong and Haiqin Yu contributed equally to this study and are regarded as joint first authors.

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Dong, HP., Yu, H., Bao, Z. et al. The ABI2-dependent abscisic acid signalling controls HrpN-induced drought tolerance in Arabidopsis. Planta 221, 313–327 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1444-x

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