Low oxygen availability within plant cells arises during plant development but is exacerbated under environmental stress conditions. The group VII ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (ERFVII) transcription factors have been identified as pivotal regulators in the hypoxia response to abiotic stress. However, their roles in transcriptional regulation during biotic stresses remain less defined. In this study, we investigated the biological function and regulatory mechanism of soybean (Glycine max) ERFVII transcription factors during soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines Ichinohe) infection. We provide evidence that soybean cyst nematode infection induces responses at the infection sites similar to those induced by hypoxia, characterized by the stabilization of ERFVII proteins and increased expression of hypoxia-responsive genes. Hypoxia pretreatment of soybeans enhances their resistance to nematode infection. We demonstrate that ERFVII members GmRAP2.12 and GmRAP2.3 act as transcriptional activators to drive the expression of GmPR10-09g, a member of the PR10 gene family highly induced by soybean cyst nematode and positively impacting nematode resistance. Transgenic hairy root analysis of nematode infection for either GmRAP2.12 or N-end rule pathway components (GmATE or GmPRT6) indicates a positive role of ERFVIIs in soybean defense responses against cyst nematode. The results of our study emphasize the important functions of GmERFVIIs in strengthening soybean’s immune responses against cyst nematode by transcriptional activation of GmPR10.

中文翻译：

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GmERFVII 转录因子上调 PATHOGENESIS-RELATED10 并导致大豆孢囊线虫抗性


植物细胞内的低氧可用性在植物发育过程中出现，但在环境胁迫条件下会加剧。VII 组乙烯反应因子 （ERFVII） 转录因子已被确定为对非生物胁迫的缺氧反应的关键调节因子。然而，它们在生物胁迫期间转录调控中的作用仍然不太明确。在本研究中，我们研究了大豆 （Glycine max） ERFVII 转录因子在大豆孢囊线虫 （Heterodera glycines Ichinohe） 感染过程中的生物学功能和调控机制。我们提供的证据表明，大豆孢囊线虫感染在感染部位诱导的反应类似于缺氧诱导的反应，其特征是 ERFVII 蛋白的稳定和缺氧反应基因的表达增加。大豆的缺氧预处理增强了它们对线虫感染的抵抗力。我们证明 ERFVII 成员 GmRAP2.12 和 GmRAP2.3 作为转录激活因子驱动 GmPR10-09g 的表达，GmPR10-09g 是 PR10 基因家族的成员，受大豆胞囊线虫高度诱导，对线虫抗性产生积极影响。对 GmRAP2.12 或 N 端规则途径成分 （GmATE 或 GmPRT6） 的线虫感染的转基因毛根分析表明，ERFVIIs 在大豆对包囊线虫的防御反应中起积极作用。我们的研究结果强调了 GmERFVIIs 通过转录激活 GmPR10 增强大豆对孢囊线虫的免疫反应的重要功能。