DEWAX Transcription Factor Is Involved in Resistance to in and .

The cuticle of land plants is the first physical barrier to protect their aerial parts from biotic and abiotic stresses. DEWAX, an AP2/ERF-type transcription factor, negatively regulates cuticular wax biosynthesis. In this study, we investigated the resistance to in and overexpressing and in mutant. Compared to wild type (WT) leaves, OX and leaves were more and less permeable to toluidine blue dye, respectively. The ROS levels increased in OX leaves, but decreased in relative to WT leaves. Compared to WT, OX was more resistant, while was more sensitive to ; however, defense responses to pv. tomato DC3000:GFP were inversely modulated. Microarray and RT-PCR analyses indicated that the expression of defense-related genes was upregulated in OX, but downregulated in relative to WT. Transactivation assay showed that DEWAX upregulated the expression of , and . Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed that DEWAX directly interacts with the GCC-box motifs of PDF1.2a promoter. In addition, ectopic expression of increased the tolerance to in Taken together, we suggest that increased ROS accumulation and -mediated upregulation of defense-related genes are closely associated with enhanced resistance to in and .