Heterologous expression of Chinese wild grapevine VqERFs in Arabidopsis thaliana enhance resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 and to Botrytis cinerea

When a plant is attacked by a pathogen, an immune response is activated to help protect it from harm. ERF transcription factors have been reported to regulate immune responses in plants. Here, three ERF transcription factors from Chinese wild Vitis quinquangularis, VqERF112, VqERF114 and VqERF072, are shown to respond to pathogen inoculation by powdery mildew, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) DC3000 and Bouytis cinerea and to hormone treatments including with ET, SA, MeJA or ABA. Tissue specific expression analysis shows the highest expression levels of VqERF112 and VqERF114 were in mature berries and of VqERF072 was in tendrils. A GUS activity assay indicates that the promoters of VqERF112, VqERF114 and VqERF072 can be induced by powdery mildew inoculation and by hormone treatment, including with ET, SA and MeJA. Overexpression of VqERF112, VqERF114 and VqERF072 in transgenic Arabidopsis enhanced the resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000) and B. cinerea, and it increased the expression of the SA signaling-related genes AtNPR1 and AtPR1 and of the JA/ET signaling-related genes AtPDF1.2, AtLOX3, AtPR3 and AtPR4. Compared to Col-0 plants, the H2O2 accumulation in transgenic Arabidopsis increased after Pst DC3000 inoculation but decreased after B. cinerea inoculation. These results demonstrate that VqERF112, VqERF114 and VqERF072 positively regulate resistance to Pst DC3000 and B. cinerea.