LUX ARRHYTHMO mediates crosstalk between the circadian clock and defense in Arabidopsis

Abstract

The circadian clock is known to regulate plant innate immunity but the underlying mechanism of this regulation remains largely unclear. We show here that mutations in the core clock component LUX ARRHYTHMO (LUX) disrupt circadian regulation of stomata under free running and Pseudomonas syringae challenge conditions as well as defense signaling mediated by SA and JA, leading to compromised disease resistance. RNA-seq analysis reveals that both clock- and defense-related genes are regulated by LUX. LUX binds to clock gene promoters that have not been shown before, expanding the clock gene networks that require LUX function. LUX also binds to the promoters of EDS1 and JAZ5, likely acting through these genes to affect SA- and JA-signaling. We further show that JA signaling reciprocally affects clock activity. Thus, our data support crosstalk between the circadian clock and plant innate immunity and imply an important role of LUX in this process.