Arabidopsis GOLDEN2-LIKE (GLK) transcription factors activate jasmonic acid (JA)-dependent disease susceptibility to the biotrophic pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis, as well as JA-independent plant immunity against the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea.

Arabidopsis thaliana GOLDEN2-LIKE (GLK1 and 2) transcription factors regulate chloroplast development in a redundant manner. Overexpression of AtGLK1 (35S:AtGLK1) in Arabidopsis also confers resistance to the cereal pathogen Fusarium graminearum. To further elucidate the role of GLK transcription factors in plant defence, the Arabidopsis glk1 glk2 double-mutant and 35S:AtGLK1 plants were challenged with the virulent oomycete pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis (Hpa) Noco2.

Found in translation: high-throughput chemical screening in Arabidopsis thaliana identifies small molecules that reduce Fusarium head blight disease in wheat.

Despite the tremendous economic impact of cereal crop pathogens such as the fungus Fusarium graminearum, the development of strategies for enhanced crop protection is hampered by complex host genetics and difficulties in performing high-throughput analyses. To bypass these challenges, we have developed an assay in which the interaction between F. graminearum and the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana is monitored in liquid media in 96-well plates.

The use of Group 3 LEA proteins as fusion partners in facilitating recombinant expression of recalcitrant proteins in E. coli.

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are intrinsically disordered proteins that accumulate in organisms during the development of dehydration stress tolerance and cold acclimation. Group 3 LEA proteins have been implicated in the prevention of cellular protein denaturation and membrane damage during desiccation and anhydrobiosis. We tested the ability of LEA proteins to facilitate recombinant expression of recalcitrant and intrinsic membrane proteins.

The GLK1 'regulon' encodes disease defense related proteins and confers resistance to Fusarium graminearum in Arabidopsis.

Overexpression (OE) was used to study the role of the Arabidopsis Golden2-like (GLK1) transcriptional activator in regulating gene expression. Affymetrix Gene Chip and RT-PCR analyses indicated that GLK1 OE in Arabidopsis reprogrammed gene expression networks to enhance a high constitutive expression of genes encoding disease defense related proteins. These include PR10, isochorismate synthase, antimicrobial peptides, glycosyl hydrolases, MATE efflux and other genes associated with pathogen response and detoxification.

The effect of overexpression of two Brassica CBF/DREB1-like transcription factors on photosynthetic capacity and freezing tolerance in Brassica napus.

The effects of overexpression of two Brassica CBF/DREB1-like transcription factors (BNCBF5 and 17) in Brassica napus cv. Westar were studied. In addition to developing constitutive freezing tolerance and constitutively accumulating COR gene mRNAs, BNCBF5- and 17-overexpressing plants also accumulate moderate transcript levels of genes involved in photosynthesis and chloroplast development as identified by microarray and Northern analyses.

Regulation and characterization of four CBF transcription factors from Brassica napus.

Four orthologues of the Arabidopsis CBF/Dreb transcriptional activator genes were isolated from the winter Brassica napus, cv. Jet neuf. All four BNCBF clones encode a putative DRE/CRT (LTRE)-binding protein with an AP2 DNA-binding domain, a putative nuclear localization signal and a possible acidic activation domain.