Constitutive disease resistance requires EDS1 in the Arabidopsis mutants cpr1 and cpr6 and is partially EDS1-dependent in cpr5.

The systemic acquired resistance (SAR) response in Arabidopsis is characterized by the accumulation of salicylic acid (SA), expression of the pathogenesis-related (PR) genes, and enhanced resistance to virulent bacterial and oomycete pathogens. The cpr (constitutive expressor of PR genes) mutants express all three SAR phenotypes. In addition, cpr5 and cpr6 induce expression of PDF1.2, a defense-related gene associated with activation of the jasmonate/ethylene-mediated resistance pathways. cpr5 also forms spontaneous lesions. In contrast, the eds1 (enhanced disease susceptibility) mutation abolishes race-specific resistance conferred by a major subclass of resistance (R) gene products in response to avirulent pathogens. eds1 plants also exhibit increased susceptibility to virulent pathogens. Epistasis experiments were designed to explore the relationship between the cpr- and EDS1-mediated resistance pathways. We found that a null eds1 mutation suppresses the disease resistance phenotypes of both cpr1 and cpr6. In contrast, eds1 only partially suppresses resistance in cpr5, leading us to conclude that cpr5 expresses both EDS1-dependent and EDS1-independent components of plant disease resistance. Although eds1 does not prevent lesion formation on cpr5 leaves, it alters their appearance and reduces their spread. This phenotypic difference is associated with increased pathogen colonization of cpr5 eds1 plants compared to cpr5. The data allow us to place EDS1 as a necessary downstream component of cpr1- and cpr6-mediated responses, but suggest a more complex relationship between EDS1 and cpr5 in plant defense.