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Poster

Session: Session 1 Presenting Authors at Posters (Evens)

P-360 - Cross-species variations of cis-regulatory mechanisms of salicylic acid biosynthesis and systemic acquired resistance in plants.

Tuesday, July 15, 2025
09:55 - 11:30  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Subcellular dynamics and signaling in host-microbe interactions

    Presenting Author(s)

  • JH

    Jiyeon Hyun (she/her/hers)

    University of Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

    • Author(s)

  • RA

    Rabia Ahuja

    University of Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

  • HR

    Hunter Rose

    University of Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

  • MF

    Mariana Freitas

    University of Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

  • HW

    Haley Welker

    University of Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

  • AC

    Alyssa Curtis

    University of Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

  • AN

    Amanda Navodani

    University of Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

  • CY

    Chan Yul Yoo

    Assistant Professor
    University of Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

  • HY

    Heejin Yoo

    Assistant Professor
    University of Utah
    Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is a plant defense response triggered by a local pathogen attack, establishing broad-spectrum and durable immunity in uninfected systemic tissues. While extensively studied in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, its regulatory mechanisms in diverse plant species remain largely unexplored. In Arabidopsis, SAR mainly relies on the systemic induction of salicylic acid (SA) following local infection, with the transcription factor CCA1 Hiking Expedition (CHE) playing a pivotal role by upregulating the SA biosynthesis gene Isochorismate Synthase 1 (ICS1). Our comparative study reveals that the CHE-ICS1 regulatory relationship is not conserved across plant species. We identified species-specific variations in CHE binding sites within ICS1 promoters. Using yeast one-hybrid and transient protoplast assays, we found these variations significantly affect CHE’s binding affinity to the ICS1 promoters. Furthermore, plant species lacking a functional CHE-ICS1 interaction fail to induce systemic ICS1 expression and SA accumulation after local pathogen infection, resulting in reduced SAR compared to species where the regulatory module remains intact. These findings provide evidence for the evolutionary divergence of SAR regulatory mechanisms and highlight the potential of engineering the CHE-ICS1 interaction to enhance disease resistance in plant species lacking this regulatory module.