ZmMPK6-1 positively regulates maize resistance to E. turcicum through enhancing ZmERF061 activity

Northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) is one of the most important foliar disease in maize, which leads to serious yield losses. It is necessary to identify resistance genes in order to control NCLB. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades play important roles in plant defense reactions. Ethylene-response factor (ERF) is involved in plant disease resistance in maize through phosphorylation by MAPK signaling pathway. Here, we found that ZmMPK6-1 positively regulates maize resistance against E. turcicum through enhancing the expression of defense-related genes and enzyme activities. Moreover, ZmMPK6-1 can interact with ZmERF061 which enhanced the transcriptional activation activity of ZmERF061. Taken together, our findings indicated that ZmMPK6-1 would act through improving ZmERF061 transcriptional activation activity to induce defensin gene expression in regulating the maize resistance against E. turcicum. These results revealed the molecular mechanism of ZmMPK6-1-ZmERF061 signaling pathway in response to E. turcicum, which is useful to maize E. turcicum resistance breeding.