DELLAs control plant immune responses by modulating the balance of jasmonic acid and salicylic acid signaling

In Arabidopsis, the flagellin-derived peptide flg22 elevates antibacterial resistance [1] and inhibits growth [2] upon perception via the leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase Flagellin-Sensitive 2 (FLS2) [3]. DELLA proteins are plant growth repressors whose degradation is promoted by the phytohormone gibberellin [4]. Here, we show that DELLA stabilization contributes to flg22-induced growth inhibition. In addition, we show that DELLAs promote susceptibility to virulent biotrophs and resistance to necrotrophs, partly by altering the relative strength of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid (JA) signaling. A quadruple-DELLA mutant (which lacks four out of the five Arabidopsis DELLA proteins [5]) was partially insensitive to gene induction by Methyl-Jasmonate (MeJA), whereas the constitutively active dominant DELLA mutant gai[6] was sensitized for JA-responsive gene induction, implicating DELLAs in JA-signaling and/or perception. Accordingly, the elevated resistance of gai to the necrotrophic fungus Alternaria brassicicola and susceptibility to the hemibiotroph Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strain DC3000 (Pto DC3000) was attenuated in the JA-insensitive coi1-16 mutant [7]. These findings suggest an explanation for why the necrotrophic fungus Gibberella fujikuroi, causal agent of the foolish-seedling disease of rice, makes gibberellin.