A cotton WAKL protein interacted with a DnaJ protein and was involved in defense against Verticillium dahliae.
Accumulating evidence indicates that plant cell wall-associated receptor-like kinases (WAKs) involve in defense against pathogen attack, but their related signaling processes and regulatory mechanism remain largely unknown. We identified a WAK-like kinase (GhWAKL) from upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) and characterized its functional mechanism. Expression of GhWAKL in cotton plants was induced by Verticillium dahliae infection and responded to the application of salicylic acid (SA). Knockdown of GhWAKL expression results in the reduction of SA content and suppresses the SA-mediated defense response, enhancing cotton plants susceptibility to V. dahliae. And, ecotopic overexpression of GhWAKL in Arabidopsis thaliana conferred plant resistance to the pathogen. Further analysis demonstrated that GhWAKL interacted with a cotton DnaJ protein (GhDNAJ1) on the cell membrane. Silencing GhDNAJ1 also enhanced cotton susceptibility to V. dahliae. Moreover, the mutation of GhWAKL at site Ser628 with the phosphorylation decreased the interaction with GhDNAJ1 and compromised the plant resistance to V. dahliae. We propose that GhWAKL is a potential molecular target for improving resistance to Verticillium wilt in cotton.
['Feng|Hongjie|H|', 'Li|Cheng|C|', 'Zhou|Jinglong|J|', 'Yuan|Yuan|Y|', 'Feng|Zili|Z|', 'Shi|Yongqiang|Y|', 'Zhao|Lihong|L|', 'Zhang|Yalin|Y|', 'Wei|Feng|F|', 'Zhu|Heqin|H|']
D001203:Ascomycota D003001:Cloning, Molecular D060467:Disease Resistance D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant D003368:Gossypium D050956:HSP40 Heat-Shock Proteins D009154:Mutation D010940:Plant Proteins D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases D020156:Salicylic Acid
Cotton Verticillium dahliae GhWAKL Resistance Phosphorylation