Identification of ERF115 and ERF114 downstream genes

Over the past years, it has become evident that microorganisms associated with plants can enhance drought tolerance. However, the specific genetic and molecular mechanisms underpinning bacterial induction of drought tolerance in plants are still largely unknown.In our work, we have shown that a root endophytic Flavobacterium confers significant drought tolerance to Arabidopsis thaliana.

We showed that the bacterium enhances drought tolerance by maintaining (and inducing) root hair formation and elongation under drought. By combining molecular, genetics, and omics technologies we identified an essential role of ethylene and two ethylene-induced transcription factors belonging to the ERF family (ERF115 and ERF114) through which flavobacterium exerts its effect on plant root hair formation and drought tolerance.