JAZ repressors of metabolic defense promote growth and reproductive fitness in Arabidopsis

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2018-11, Vol.115 (45), p.E10768-E10777
• Main Authors: Guo, Qiang, Yoshida, Yuki, Major, Ian T., Wang, Kun, Sugimoto, Koichi, Kapali, George, Havko, Nathan E., Benning, Christoph, Howe, Gregg A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino acids; Animals; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - immunology; Arabidopsis - microbiology; Arabidopsis - parasitology; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Biodegradation; Biological Sciences; Breeding success; Carbon; Carbon - metabolism; carbon starvation; Cyclopentanes - metabolism; Disease Resistance - genetics; Endoplasmic reticulum; Fitness; Flowers & plants; Fungi - growth & development; Fungi - pathogenicity; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - immunology; Genes; Genetic Fitness - immunology; growth–defense trade-off; Herbivores; Hormones; Immune response; Immune system; Immunity; Insecta - pathogenicity; Insecta - physiology; Insects; Isoleucine; Isoleucine - analogs & derivatives; Isoleucine - metabolism; jasmonate; Jasmonic acid; Leaves; Lesions; Metabolic Networks and Pathways - genetics; Metabolic Networks and Pathways - immunology; Metabolism; Multigene Family; Mutation; Ontogeny; Phenotypes; Photosynthesis; Plant Diseases - genetics; Plant Diseases - immunology; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plant Diseases - parasitology; Plant growth; Plant immunity; Plant Immunity - genetics; Plant tissues; plant-insect interaction; Plants; PNAS Plus; Protein Isoforms - deficiency; Protein Isoforms - genetics; Proteins; Repressor Proteins - deficiency; Repressor Proteins - genetics; Repressors; Reproduction; Reproduction - genetics; Reproduction - immunology; Reproductive fitness; Resource allocation; Signal Transduction; Transcription
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1811828115

Plant immune responses mediated by the hormone jasmonoyl-L-isoleucine (JA-Ile) are metabolically costly and often linked to reduced growth. Although it is known that JA-Ile activates defense responses by triggering the degradation of JASMONATE ZIM DOMAIN (JAZ) transcriptional repressor proteins, expansion of the JAZ gene family in vascular plants has hampered efforts to understand how this hormone impacts growth and other physiological tasks over the course of ontogeny. Here, we combined mutations within the 13-member Arabidopsis JAZ gene family to investigate the effects of chronic JAZ deficiency on growth, defense, and reproductive output. A higher-order mutant (jaz decuple, jazD) defective in 10 JAZ genes (JAZ1–7, -9, -10, and -13) exhibited robust resistance to insect herbivores and fungal pathogens, which was accompanied by slow vegetative growth and poor reproductive performance. Metabolic phenotypes of jazD discerned from global transcript and protein profiling were indicative of elevated carbon partitioning to amino acid-, protein-, and endoplasmic reticulum body-based defenses controlled by the JA-Ile and ethylene branches of immunity. Resource allocation to a strong defense sink in jazD leaves was associated with increased respiration and hallmarks of carbon starvation but no overt changes in photosynthetic rate. Depletion of the remaining JAZ repressors in jazD further exaggerated growth stunting, nearly abolished seed production and, under extreme conditions, caused spreading necrotic lesions and tissue death. Our results demonstrate that JAZ proteins promote growth and reproductive success at least in part by preventing catastrophic metabolic effects of an unrestrained immune response.