Differential regulation and interaction of homoeologous WRKY18 and WRKY40 in Arabidopsis allotetraploids and biotic stress responses.

WRKY transcription factors (TFs) belong to a large family of regulatory proteins in plants that modulate many plant processes. Extensive studies have been conducted on WRKY-mediated defense response in Arabidopsis thaliana and several crop species. Here, we aimed to investigate the potential roles and contributions of WRKY TFs in improving the defense response in the resynthesized Arabidopsis allotetraploids (Arabidopsis suecica) derived from two related autotetraploid progenitors, Arabidopsis thaliana (At4) and Arabidopsis arenosa (Aa).