Acquired resistance in Arabidopsis.

TLDR

Acquired resistance is a key component of plant disease resistance, arising from pathogen infection or synthetic resistance‑inducing compounds. The study aims to establish Arabidopsis as a genetic model for investigating acquired resistance in plants. Three apoplastic proteins that accumulate after INA treatment were purified and characterized. The study shows that INA treatment induces Arabidopsis resistance to bacterial and fungal pathogens, and that the genes encoding the three apoplastic proteins are upregulated by INA, pathogen infection, and salicylic acid, suggesting a role for salicylic acid as an endogenous signal.

Abstract

Acquired resistance is an important component of the complex disease resistance mechanism in plants, which can result from either pathogen infection or treatment with synthetic, resistance-inducing compounds. In this study, Arabidopsis, a tractable genetic system, is shown to develop resistance to a bacterial and a fungal pathogen following 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid (INA) treatment. Three proteins that accumulated to high levels in the apoplast in response to INA treatment were purified and characterized. Expression of the genes corresponding to these proteins was induced by INA, pathogen infection, and salicylic acid, the latter being a putative endogenous signal for acquired resistance. Arabidopsis should serve as a genetic model for studies of this type of immune response in plants.