The regulatory function of TCP8 in plant innate immunity
B. SPEARS (1), F. Gao (2), J. Nam (2), W. Gassmann (1) (1) University of Missouri, Columbia, U.S.A.; (2) University of Missouri, Columbia, U.S.A.

Plants are regularly challenged by microbial pathogens, which translates to enormous economic loss annually. A complex innate immune system allows plants to recognize pathogen-specific molecular signatures, as well as the activity of secreted effectors that target host components to promote pathogen fitness, a biological response known as effector-triggered immunity (ETI). An active immune response, however, is metabolically expensive and comes at the cost of plant growth and development; tight regulation is critical to plant fitness. The TCP transcription factor family consists of well-characterized transcriptional regulators of plant development and morphogenesis. Recently, we identified a role for three closely-related Class I TCPs as positive regulators of ETI, and characterized nuclear interactions in planta with the negative immune regulator SUPPRESSOR OF rps4-RLD1 (SRFR1). We proposed a model by which SRFR1 inhibits defense gene transcription through interactions with TCP proteins and additional transcriptional corepressors. To further investigate the role of class I TCPs in plant immunity, we have initiated the identification of the regulatory promoter targets of TCP8 through chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments with HA-tagged TCP8 under the native promoter, coupled with high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-Seq). An analysis of the results will be presented to further elucidate the regulatory mechanisms by which SRFR1 suppresses innate immunity.

Abstract Number: P16-472
Session Type: Poster