Negative regulation of defence and stress genes by EAR-motif-containing repressors

Although positive control or activation mechanism(s) involved in plant defence- and stress-related gene expression is relatively well studied, little is known about what keeps defensive armoury under control when not needed. Recent reports suggest that transcriptional repression of gene expression by EAR-motif-containing repressor proteins plays a key role in modulating plant defence and stress responses.