Over-expression of the stress-induced OsWRKY45 enhances disease resistance and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis

The WRKY transcriptional factor superfamily regulates diverse functions, including processes such as plant development and stress response. In this study, we have shown that the rice WRKY45 (OsWRKY45) expression is markedly induced in response to stress-related hormone abscisic acid (ABA) and various stress factors, e.g., application of NaCl, PEG, mannitol or dehydration, treatment with 0 °C and 42 °C as well as infection by Pyricularia oryzae Cav. and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Together, these results indicate that the OsWRKY45 may be involved in the signal pathways of both biotic and abiotic stress response. Further analyses of 35S:OsWRK45 Arabidopsis plants have shown that ectopic, constitutive over-expression of the OsWRKY45 transgene confers a number of properties to transgenic plants. These properties include significantly increased expression of PR genes, enhanced resistance to the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae tomato DC3000, enhanced tolerance to salt and drought stresses, decreased sensitivity toward ABA signalling during seed germination and post-germination processes, and modulation of ABA/stress-regulated genes during drought induction. In addition, higher levels of OsWRKY45 expression in transgenic plants correlate positively with the strength of the abiotic and biotic responses mentioned above. More specifically, the decreased ABA sensitivities, the enhanced disease resistance and drought tolerances may be attributed, in part, to stomatal closure and induction of stress-related genes during drought induction. The relationship between OsWRKY45 expression and ABA signalling is discussed.