Abstract
Recently we cloned and characterized the gene for the wheat transcription factor TaWRKY45 and showed that
TaWRKY45
was upregulated in response to benzothiadiazole (BTH) and
Fusarium
head blight (FHB) and that its overexpression conferred enhanced resistance against
F. graminearum
. To characterize the functional role of
TaWRKY45
in the disease resistance of wheat, in the present study we conducted expression analyses of
TaWRKY45
with inoculations of powdery mildew and leaf rust and evaluated
TaWRKY45
-overexpressing wheat plants for resistance to these diseases.
TaWRKY45
was upregulated in response to infections with
Blumeria graminis
, a causal fungus for powdery mildew, and
Puccinia triticina
, a causal fungus for leaf rust. Constitutive overexpression of the
TaWRKY45
transgene conferred enhanced resistance against these two fungi on transgenic wheat plants grown under greenhouse conditions. However, the expression of two resistance-related genes,
Pm3
and
Lr34
, was not induced by the inoculation with powdery mildew in
TaWRKY45
-overexpressing wheat plants. These results suggest that
TaWRKY45
is involved in the defense responses for multiple fungal diseases in wheat but that resistance involving
TaWRKY45
differs from at least
Pm3
and/or
Lr34
-related resistance. Our present and previous studies indicate that
TaWRKY45
may be potentially utilized to improve a wide range of disease resistance in wheat.