HBI1 integrates hormonal and environmental signals to regulate the trade-off between growth and immunity (RNA-seq)

The trade-off between growth and immunity is crucial for survival in plants. An antagonistic interaction has been observed between the growth-promoting hormone brassinosteroid and pathogen associated molecular pattern (PAMP) signals, which induce immunity but inhibit growth, however the underlying molecular mechanism has remained unclear. The PRE-IBH1-HBI1 triple helix-loop-helix/basic helix-loop-helix (HLH/bHLH) cascade has been shown to mediate growth responses to several hormonal and environmental signals, but its downstream targets and role in immunity remain unknown. Here, we performed genome-wide analyses of HBI1 target genes in Arabidopsis. The results show that HBI1 regulates a set of genes that largely overlaps with targets of PIFs, but displays both similar and unique transcriptional activities compared to PIFs, supporting a role in fine-tuning the network through cooperation and antagonism with other DNA-binding factors of the network. Furthermore, HBI1 also negatively regulates a subset of defense response genes. Two PAMPs, flagellin and elongation factor, repressed HBI1 expression, whereas overexpression of HBI1 reduced the PAMP-induced growth inhibition, defense gene expression, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and flg22-induced resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tomato DC3000. These data indicate that HBI1 is a node for crosstalk between hormone and immune pathways. This study demonstrates that the PRE-IBH1-HBI1 module integrates hormone and pathogen signals, and thus plays a central role in the balance between growth and immunity in plants. Overall design: Compare the transcriptome of HBI1-Ox and wild type.

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Fan M, Bai MY, Kim JG, Wang T, Oh E, Chen L, Park CH, Son SH, Kim SK, Mudgett MB, Wang ZY