Description
Functional characterization of AtWRKY72 using Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion lines showed that this gene is important for basal defense to root-knot nematode (RKN) and Hyaloperonospora parasitica arabidopsis (Hpa), but not several tested R gene-mediated defenses.To profile transcriptional reprogramming associated with AtWRKY72-dependent basal defense we used Affymetrix ATH1 GeneChips representing ~24,000 Arabidopsis genes. Three independent biological replicates were performed with Col-0, wrky72-1 and wrky72-2 plants at 96 hpt with HpaNoco2 or mock treatment. Using a false discovery rate of less than 0.05 we identified for each of these three lines genes that showed significant transcriptional changes in response to HpaNoco2 compared to the mock-treated controls. Identification of downstream targets of WRKY72 in Arabidopsis by this microarray suggests that WRKY72 uses a unique signaling pathway that involves AP2/ERF TFs independent of the ethylene signaling pathway.