plant defense response against X. campestris pv. campestris (Hwang et al. 2011).
The genome-wide profiling of WRKY TFs in the red tomato resulted in an arrangement of a total of 81 SlWRKY genes into 3 main groups. Furthermore, the qRT-PCR
analysis of SlWRKYs showed spatial expression patterns in response to various
treatments including four WRKYs, namely SlWRKY23, SlWRKY39, SlWRKY80, and
SlWRKY81 in response to P. syringae invasion (Huang et al. 2016). In a report
published in famous Plant, Cell & Environment, Dang et al. (2013) clarified the role
of pepper CaWRKY40 in imparting resistance against R. solanacearum infection. In
another report published in Molecular Plant Pathology, Wang and colleagues
concluded the negative role of CaWRKY58 in imparting resistance to
R. solanacearum infection (Wang et al. 2013). Similarly, the overexpression of
GhWRKY40 in N. benthamiana enhanced the R. solanacearum susceptibility as
compared to the wild-type plants (Wang et al. 2014). In another report published in
the Physiologia Plantarum, the overexpression of CaWRKY27 enhanced the resistance of tobacco transgenic plants to R. solanacearum (Dang et al. 2014). Wu and
colleagues compared the transcriptome-scale changes in two maize NILs upon
inoculation of bacterial brown spot pathogen. They observed WRKY-encoding
genes such as WRKY33, WRKY53, and WRKY71 were pronouncedly activated in
both resistant and susceptible NIL (Wu et al. 2015). In another article, the heterologous overexpression of rapeseed BrWRKY7 enhanced the resistance in Arabidopsis
transgenic plants against Pectobacterium carotovorum, the causal organism of
bacterial soft rot (Ko et al. 2015).
In another study, constitutive overexpression of the poplar PtrWRKY89 in
Arabidopsis plants resulted in enhanced susceptibility to P. syringae as compared
to the wild-type plants. This was further confirmed by the qRT-PCR study which
confirmed the downregulation of marker genes related to SA as well as JA pathways
at the molecular level (Jiang et al. 2016). On the other instance, Hwang and
colleagues published their article in Plant Cell Reports which elucidated the positive
role of OsWRKY51 in defense against X. oryzae pv. Oryzae (Hwang et al. 2016). In
the year of 2017, Nemchinov et al. first selected and inoculated bacterial stem blightresistant and susceptible alfalfa (Medicago sativa L) plants and then performed their
temporal transcript profiling. Their analysis revealed that there were plenty of DEGs
in two contrasting genotypes at the molecular level. The reason for resistance
appeared to be mediated primarily by 20 WRKY family transcription factors and
other function-related genes (Nemchinov et al. 2017). On the other instance, Liu and
colleagues published their article in Frontiers in Plant Science which elucidated the
positive role of NtWRKY50 in imparting resistance to R. solanacearum by altering
both SA and JA production (Liu et al. 2017). In the next year, Liu and colleagues
published their article in BMC Plant Biology which elucidated about the positive role
of OsWRKY67 in regulating bacteria blight resistance in rice (Liu et al. 2018). Their
work was further validated by the report published by Vo and group in the journal
Frontiers in Plant Science (Vo et al. 2018).
Recently, Sureshkumar and other scientists from ICAR-IARI generated a database “RiceMetaSysB.” This database contained a collaborative as well as a curated
list of bacterial blight responsive genes in rice as well as opened a channel to utilize
11 Role of WRKY Transcription Factor Superfamily in Plant Disease Management
347
The genome-wide profiling of WRKY TFs in the red tomato resulted in an arrangement of a total of 81 SlWRKY genes into 3 main groups. Furthermore, the qRT-PCR
analysis of SlWRKYs showed spatial expression patterns in response to various
treatments including four WRKYs, namely SlWRKY23, SlWRKY39, SlWRKY80, and
SlWRKY81 in response to P. syringae invasion (Huang et al. 2016). In a report
published in famous Plant, Cell & Environment, Dang et al. (2013) clarified the role
of pepper CaWRKY40 in imparting resistance against R. solanacearum infection. In
another report published in Molecular Plant Pathology, Wang and colleagues
concluded the negative role of CaWRKY58 in imparting resistance to
R. solanacearum infection (Wang et al. 2013). Similarly, the overexpression of
GhWRKY40 in N. benthamiana enhanced the R. solanacearum susceptibility as
compared to the wild-type plants (Wang et al. 2014). In another report published in
the Physiologia Plantarum, the overexpression of CaWRKY27 enhanced the resistance of tobacco transgenic plants to R. solanacearum (Dang et al. 2014). Wu and
colleagues compared the transcriptome-scale changes in two maize NILs upon
inoculation of bacterial brown spot pathogen. They observed WRKY-encoding
genes such as WRKY33, WRKY53, and WRKY71 were pronouncedly activated in
both resistant and susceptible NIL (Wu et al. 2015). In another article, the heterologous overexpression of rapeseed BrWRKY7 enhanced the resistance in Arabidopsis
transgenic plants against Pectobacterium carotovorum, the causal organism of
bacterial soft rot (Ko et al. 2015).
In another study, constitutive overexpression of the poplar PtrWRKY89 in
Arabidopsis plants resulted in enhanced susceptibility to P. syringae as compared
to the wild-type plants. This was further confirmed by the qRT-PCR study which
confirmed the downregulation of marker genes related to SA as well as JA pathways
at the molecular level (Jiang et al. 2016). On the other instance, Hwang and
colleagues published their article in Plant Cell Reports which elucidated the positive
role of OsWRKY51 in defense against X. oryzae pv. Oryzae (Hwang et al. 2016). In
the year of 2017, Nemchinov et al. first selected and inoculated bacterial stem blightresistant and susceptible alfalfa (Medicago sativa L) plants and then performed their
temporal transcript profiling. Their analysis revealed that there were plenty of DEGs
in two contrasting genotypes at the molecular level. The reason for resistance
appeared to be mediated primarily by 20 WRKY family transcription factors and
other function-related genes (Nemchinov et al. 2017). On the other instance, Liu and
colleagues published their article in Frontiers in Plant Science which elucidated the
positive role of NtWRKY50 in imparting resistance to R. solanacearum by altering
both SA and JA production (Liu et al. 2017). In the next year, Liu and colleagues
published their article in BMC Plant Biology which elucidated about the positive role
of OsWRKY67 in regulating bacteria blight resistance in rice (Liu et al. 2018). Their
work was further validated by the report published by Vo and group in the journal
Frontiers in Plant Science (Vo et al. 2018).
Recently, Sureshkumar and other scientists from ICAR-IARI generated a database “RiceMetaSysB.” This database contained a collaborative as well as a curated
list of bacterial blight responsive genes in rice as well as opened a channel to utilize
11 Role of WRKY Transcription Factor Superfamily in Plant Disease Management
347