JAZ proteins promote growth and reproduction by restraining transcriptional programs that link primary and specialized metabolism

Journal Article · Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · FASEB Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.533.66· OSTI ID:1786867

Guo, Qiang ^[1]; Major, Ian ^[1]; Yoshida, Yuki ^[2]; Howe, Gregg ^[1]

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1. DOE‐Plant Research Laboratory Michigan State University East Lansing MI
2. Graduate School of Science The University of Tokyo Tokyo Japan

Plants constantly experience attack from surrounding organisms. Because they cannot escape from the environment, plants have evolved a sophisticated immune system to defend themselves against pests and pathogens. However, mounting a defense response is often accompanied by a decrease in growth. The antagonistic relationship between growth and defense has been interpreted as the plant's “dilemma” of how to distribute limited resources between these two fundamental processes. Jasmonic acid (JA) and its derivatives are a class of lipid‐derived hormones that mediate plant immunity against insect herbivores and necrotrophic pathogens, as well as growth, reproduction, and several other physiological processes. JA is perceived by its receptor CORONATINE INSENSITIVE 1 (COI1), which mediates the degradation of the JASMONATE ZIM DOMAIN (JAZ) transcriptional repressors by the 26S proteasome. JAZ degradation releases JA‐responsive transcription factors such as MYC2 from repression, thereby initiating JA responses. Despite the importance of JA in mediating growth‐defense tradeoffs, the mechanism by which JA effects carbon resource allocation between growth and defense is poorly understood. In this study we demonstrate strong constitutive activation of JA signaling pathway in an Arabidopsis mutant ( jazD ) that lacks ten members of JASMONATE ZIM DOMAIN (JAZ) family proteins. This mutant displayed elevated defense against insect herbivores, stunted growth of vegetative tissues, as well as compromised seed reproduction. Metabolic phenotypes of jazD discerned from global protein and transcript profiling were indicative of elevated carbon allocation to protein‐ and amino acid‐based defense compounds. The strong defense sink in jazD leaves was linked to increased respiration and hallmarks of carbon starvation, whereas area‐based photosynthetic efficiency was unaffected. These findings establish a role for JAZ proteins in promoting growth and reproductive success through restraint of transcriptional programs that link primary metabolism to specialized metabolism. Our data suggest that JAZs adjust growth‐defense balance to match anticipated changes in carbon availability, potentially avoiding detrimental effects of carbon limitation that arise during growth‐to‐defense transitions. Support or Funding Information This research was funded by the Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, US Department of Energy through grant DE–FG02–91ER20021. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 1786867
• Journal Information: FASEB Journal, Journal Name: FASEB Journal Vol. 32 Journal Issue: S1; ISSN 0892-6638
• Publisher: FASEB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English