Ligand-induced monoubiquitination of BIK1 regulates plant immunity (Nature)

The plant immune system has been a keenly researched area in plant sciences in the past decade. Elicitors present in microbes are compounds that induce response from plants when under attack. These elicitors are conserved in many pathogens and are called microbe associated molecular patterns (MAMPs). Pattern recognition receptors form the first line of defense when plants are under attack. Inducible defense in plants against plant pathogens has been of keen interest to plant scientists for a long time. The mechanism of activation of the Receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases (RLCKs) which plays a role in the regulation of this process of inducible defense has not been clear. In this study Ma et al 2020 show that protein phosphorylation and ubiquitination regulate the PRR–RLCK complex activation. They also show that ligand-induced monoubiquitination plays a role in the release of RLCK BOTRYTIS-INDUCED KINASE 1 from the PPR complex and also contributes to PPR signaling. (Summary by Arun Shanker @arunshanker). Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2210-3