Conservation of NON-EXPRESSOR OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENES1 function between Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus

An Expressed Sequence Tag encoding a protein highly related to Arabidopsis NPR1 was isolated from canola quality Brassica napus. The protein, BnNPR1, interacts with the same spectrum of TGA transcription factors and NIMIN proteins as AtNPR1 in the yeast two-hybrid system. When expressed in Arabidopsis npr1 mutants, BnNPR1 restored salicylic acid-dependent expression of the marker gene PR-1 and enhanced basal defense as well as systemic acquired resistance against a virulent strain of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. Expression of Arabidopsis NPR1 or over expression of BnNPR1 in transgenic B. napus also effectively enhanced basal resistance against P. syringae.