Genome-wide investigation uncovers the genes responsible for 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol protection in Arabidopsis thaliana

The compound 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (DAPG) is a well-known secondary metabolite produced by Pseudomonas spp. that are used as biocontrol agents. DAPG displays a remarkably broad spectrum of toxic activity against pathogens of plants. Yet high concentrations of DAPG may also have negative effect on plants, but the phytotoxicity of DAPG is not clearly understood. Here we used genome-wide activation tagging Arabidopsis plants as the model plant to investigate the plant response to DAPG. A total of 15 lines were selected as DAPG-tolerant plants from among 62000 lines investigated. The DAPG-responsible genes were then identified via TAIL-PCR and qRT-PCR, and the gene ontology analysis showed that the distribution of these genes having different biological processes, cellular regulations, and molecular functional properties. Collectively, these findings suggest that plants may rely on several pathways to prevent DAPG phytotoxicity.