NRG1 functions downstream of EDS1 to regulate TIR-NLR-mediated plant immunity in Nicotiana benthamiana.

Effector-triggered immunity (ETI) in plants involves a large family of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) immune receptors, including Toll/IL-1 receptor-NLRs (TNLs) and coiled-coil NLRs (CNLs). Although various NLR immune receptors are known, a mechanistic understanding of NLR function in ETI remains unclear. The TNL Recognition of XopQ 1 (Roq1) recognizes the effectors XopQ and HopQ1 from Xanthomonas and Pseudomonas, respectively, which activates resistance to Xanthomonas euvesicatoria and Xanthomonas gardneri in an Enhanced Disease Susceptibility 1 (EDS1)-dependent way in Nicotiana benthamiana In this study, we found that the N. benthamiana N requirement gene 1 (NRG1), a CNL protein required for the tobacco TNL protein N-mediated resistance to tobacco mosaic virus, is also essential for immune signaling [including hypersensitive response (HR)] triggered by the TNLs Roq1 and Recognition of Peronospora parasitica 1 (RPP1), but not by the CNLs Bs2 and Rps2, suggesting that NRG1 may be a conserved key component in TNL signaling pathways. Besides EDS1, Roq1 and NRG1 are necessary for resistance to Xanthomonas and Pseudomonas in N. benthamiana NRG1 functions downstream of Roq1 and EDS1 and physically associates with EDS1 in mediating XopQ-Roq1-triggered immunity. Moreover, RNA sequencing analysis showed that XopQ-triggered gene-expression profile changes in N. benthamiana were almost entirely mediated by Roq1 and EDS1 and were largely regulated by NRG1. Overall, our study demonstrates that NRG1 is a key component that acts downstream of EDS1 to mediate various TNL signaling pathways, including Roq1 and RPP1-mediated HR, resistance to Xanthomonas and Pseudomonas, and XopQ-regulated transcriptional changes in N. benthamiana

Multiple Domain Associations within the Arabidopsis Immune Receptor RPP1 Regulate the Activation of Programmed Cell Death

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Upon recognition of pathogen virulence effectors, plant nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) proteins induce defense responses including localized host cell death. In an effort to understand the molecular mechanisms leading to this response, we examined the Arabidopsis thaliana NLR protein RECOGNITION OF PERONOSPORA PARASITICA1 (RPP1), which recognizes the Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis effector ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA RECOGNIZED1 (ATR1). Expression of the N-terminus of RPP1, including the Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain (“N-TIR”), elicited an effector-independent cell death response, and we used allelic variation in TIR domain sequences to define the key residues that contribute to this phenotype. Further biochemical characterization indicated that cell death induction was correlated with N-TIR domain self-association. In addition, we demonstrated that the nucleotide-binding (NB)-ARC1 region of RPP1 self-associates and plays a critical role in cell death activation, likely by facilitating TIR:TIR interactions. Structural homology modeling of the NB subdomain allowed us to identify a putative oligomerization interface that was shown to influence NB-ARC1 self-association. Significantly, full-length RPP1 exhibited effector-dependent oligomerization and, although mutations at the NB-ARC1 oligomerization interface eliminated cell death induction, RPP1 self-association was unaffected, suggesting that additional regions contribute to oligomerization. Indeed, the leucine-rich repeat domain of RPP1 also self-associates, indicating that multiple interaction interfaces exist within activated RPP1 oligomers. Finally, we observed numerous intramolecular interactions that likely function to negatively regulate RPP1, and present a model describing the transition to an active NLR protein

Computational and Biochemical Analysis of the Xanthomonas Effector AvrBs2 and Its Role in the Modulation of Xanthomonas Type Three Effector Delivery

Effectors of the bacterial type III secretion system provide invaluable molecular probes to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of plant immunity and pathogen virulence. In this report, we focus on the AvrBs2 effector protein from the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas euvesicatoria (Xe), the causal agent of bacterial spot disease of tomato and pepper. Employing homology-based structural analysis, we generate a three-dimensional structural model for the AvrBs2 protein and identify catalytic sites in its putative glycerolphosphodiesterase domain (GDE). We demonstrate that the identified catalytic region of AvrBs2 was able to functionally replace the GDE catalytic site of the bacterial glycerophosphodiesterase BhGlpQ cloned from Borrelia hermsii and is required for AvrBs2 virulence. Mutations in the GDE catalytic domain did not disrupt the recognition of AvrBs2 by the cognate plant resistance gene Bs2. In addition, AvrBs2 activation of Bs2 suppressed subsequent delivery of other Xanthomonas type III effectors into the host plant cells. Investigation of the mechanism underlying this modulation of the type III secretion system may offer new strategies to generate broad-spectrum resistance to bacterial pathogens

RIN4 Functions with Plasma Membrane H+-ATPases to Regulate Stomatal Apertures during Pathogen Attack

In plants, the protein Rin4 acts with the plasma membrane H+-ATPase to regulate pathogen entry and the innate immune response, in part, through the regulation of stomatal closure

Pivoting the Plant Immune System from Dissection to Deployment

Diverse and rapidly evolving pathogens cause plant diseases and epidemics that threaten crop yield and food security around the world. Research over the last 25 years has led to an increasingly clear conceptual understanding of the molecular components of the plant immune system. Combined with ever-cheaper DNA-sequencing technology and the rich diversity of germ plasm manipulated for over a century by plant breeders, we now have the means to begin development of durable (long-lasting) disease resistance beyond the limits imposed by conventional breeding and in a manner that will replace costly and unsustainable chemical controls