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Article|01 Jul 2020|OPEN
Chrysanthemum CmWRKY53 negatively regulates the resistance of chrysanthemum to the aphid Macrosiphoniella sanborni
Wanwan Zhang1 , Tianwei Gao1 , Peiling Li1,2 , Chang Tian1 , Aiping Song1 , Jiafu Jiang1 , Zhiyong Guan1 , Weimin Fang1 and Fadi Chen1 , Sumei Chen,1 ,
1State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Key Laboratory of Landscaping, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
2College of Horticulture, Xinyang Agricultural and Forestry University, Xinyang, Henan, China
*Corresponding author. E-mail: chensm@njau.edu.cn

Horticulture Research 7,
Article number: 109 (2020)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41438-020-0334-0
Views: 1218

Received: 20 Mar 2020
Revised: 02 May 2020
Accepted: 07 May 2020
Published online: 01 Jul 2020

Abstract

Chrysanthemum is frequently attacked by aphids, which greatly hinders the growth and ornamental value of this plant species. WRKY transcription factors play an important role in the response to biotic stresses such as pathogen and insect stresses. Here, chrysanthemum CmWRKY53 was cloned, and its expression was induced by aphid infestation. To verify the role of CmWRKY53 in resistance to aphids, CmWRKY53 transgenic chrysanthemum was generated. CmWRKY53 was found to mediate the susceptibility of chrysanthemum to aphids. The expression levels of secondary metabolite biosynthesis genes, such as peroxidase- and polyphenol oxidase-encoding genes, decreased in CmWRKY53-overexpressing (CmWRKY53-Oe) plants but dramatically increased in chimeric dominant repressor (CmWRKY53-SRDX) plants, suggesting that CmWRKY53 contributes to the susceptibility of chrysanthemum to aphids, possibly due to its role in the regulation of secondary metabolites.