Abstract

Artemisia annua, a traditional Chinese medicinal plant, remains the only plant source for artemisinin production, yet few genes have been identified to be involved in both the response to biotic stresses, such as pathogens, and artemisinin biosynthesis. Here, we isolated and identified the WRKY transcription factor (TF) AaWRKY17, which could significantly increase the artemisinin content and resistance to Pseudomonas syringae in A. annua. Yeast one-hybrid (Y1H), dual-luciferase (dual-LUC), and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) results showed that AaWRKY17 directly bound to the W-box motifs in the promoter region of the artemisinin biosynthetic pathway gene amorpha-4,11-diene synthase (ADS) and promoted its expression. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis revealed that the transcript levels of two defense marker genes, Pathogenesis-Related 5 (PR5) and NDR1/HIN1-LIKE 10 (NHL10), were greatly increased in AaWRKY17-overexpressing transgenic A. annua plants. Additionally, overexpression of AaWRKY17 in A. annua resulted in decreased susceptibility to P. syringae. These results indicated that AaWRKY17 acted as a positive regulator in response to P. syringae infection. Together, our findings demonstrated that the novel WRKY transcription factor AaWRKY17 could potentially be used in transgenic breeding to improve the content of artemisinin and pathogen tolerance in A. annua.