Jasmonates act with salicylic acid to confer basal thermotolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

• The cpr5-1 Arabidopsis thaliana mutant exhibits constitutive activation of salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET) signalling pathways and displays enhanced tolerance of heat stress (HS). • cpr5-1 crossed with jar1-1 (a JA-amino acid synthetase) was compromised in basal thermotolerance, as were the mutants opr3 (mutated in OPDA reductase3) and coi1-1 (affected in an E3 ubiquitin ligase F-box; a key JA-signalling component). In addition, heating wild-type Arabidopsis led to the accumulation of a range of jasmonates: JA, 12-oxophytodienoic acid (OPDA) and a JA-isoleucine (JA-Ile) conjugate. Exogenous application of methyl jasmonate protected wild-type Arabidopsis from HS. • Ethylene was rapidly produced during HS, with levels being modulated by both JA and SA. By contrast, the ethylene mutant ein2-1 conferred greater thermotolerance. • These data suggest that JA acts with SA, conferring basal thermotolerance while ET may act to promote cell death.