The RNA-binding protein FPA regulates flg22-triggered defense responses and transcription factor activity by alternative polyadenylation

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play an important role in plant host-microbe interactions. In this study, we show that the plant RBP known as FPA, which regulates 3'-end mRNA polyadenylation, negatively regulates basal resistance to bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae in Arabidopsis. A custom microarray analysis reveals that flg22, a peptide derived from bacterial flagellins, induces expression of alternatively polyadenylated isoforms of mRNA encoding the defence-related transcriptional repressor ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR 4 (ERF4), which is regulated by FPA. Flg22 induces expression of a novel isoform of ERF4 that lacks the ERF-associated amphiphilic repression (EAR) motif, while FPA inhibits this induction. The EAR-lacking isoform of ERF4 acts as a transcriptional activator in vivo and suppresses the flg22-dependent reactive oxygen species burst. We propose that FPA controls use of proximal polyadenylation sites of ERF4, which quantitatively limit the defence response output.