Research Information System
Bilecik Şeyh Edebali Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi, vol.8, no.2, pp.636-645, 2021 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) function in signaling pathways as modules cascading between
stimulus activated sensors and response mechanisms.ZmMAPK14, a group C final MAPK of this cascade was
identified as a differentially expressed message in cDNA-AFLP studies of both susceptible and resistant
genotypes, where a gradual induction was displayed in the resistant genotype while a clear repression occurred in
the susceptible genotype in response to Puccinia sorghi (Ps) inoculation. RT-qPCR verification studies, however,
did not reveal the same pattern of expression in that both displayed inductions at different levels. Ps inoculation
induced a limited expression increase fluctuating between 1.5 and 2.5-fold in the susceptible genotype while a
dramatic upregulation starting at 12 h with a 149-fold and gradually increasing to a maximum level of 477 folds
at 72 h in resistant genotype was observed. To obtain further evidence about its role in plant defense, ZmMapk14
expression in response to applications of chitin, Salicylic Acid (SA) and H2O2 at six time points covering a 0-24 h
interval were studied in both genotypes. All treatments induced ZmMapk14 expression in the resistant genotype
significantly at different levels while the expressional changes in the susceptible were more complex and limited
similar to the Psinoculation levels in the susceptible. Overall, the results show that ZmMAPK14 display differential
expression in resistant and susceptible genotypes in response to Ps inoculation and applied defense compounds,
and it presumably functions in plant defense to Ps.