Coordinated evolution of plant immune receptor repertoires (bioRxiv)
Plant Science Research WeeklyIn plants, immune signalling and the corresponding defence responses are initiated by direct or indirect recognition of pathogen molecules via immune receptors. In the plasma membrane, pattern-recognition-receptors (PRRs) recognize signs of invasion and pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) is initiated.…
Suppression of MYC transcription activators by the immune cofactor NPR1 fine-tunes plant immune responses (Cell Reports)
Plant Science Research WeeklyIn Arabidopsis, NONEXPRESSOR OF PR GENES 1 (NPR1) plays an important role in the antagonistic crosstalk of salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) signalling. It activates SA-induced genes that protect against biotrophic pathogens and suppresses JA-induced genes that protect against necrotrophic pathogens.…
CPK28 is targeted by the ubiquitin ligases ATL31 and ATL6 for proteasome-mediated degradation to fine-tune immune signaling
Plant Science Research Weekly‘Fine tuning’ is a very significant process that takes place in the cell to correctly modulate plant responses. BOTRYTIS-INDUCED KINASE 1 (BIK1) is an important hub protein that is at the center of the signaling hub that controls defense responses. Hence, plants fine tune this important protein through…
A giant NLR gene confers broad-spectrum resistance to Phytophthora sojae in soybean (Nature Comms.)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPhytophthora sojae is an oomycete pathogen that causes huge yield losses in soybean. Genetic studies have identified several loci that confer resistance (Resistance-to-P. sojae loci, or Rps). Here, Wang et al. have cloned Rps11 and found that it encodes a very large NLR (nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich…
Review. Message in a Bubble: Shuttling small RNAs and proteins between cells and interacting organisms using extracellular vesicles (Annu. Rev. Plant Biol.)
Plant Science Research WeeklySmall RNAs have big effects and can serve to shut down or silence gene expression. Recently, studies have found that small RNAs can contribute to plant defense beyond the boundary of the plant, by being packed into extracellular vesicles (EVs) and delivered to a pathogen. Cai et al. review our current…
Review. Plant synthetic biology for producing potent phyto-antimicrobials to combat antimicrobial resistance
Plant Science Research Weekly
Covid has turned our focus to human viral pathogens, but the challenges we face from cellular pathogens has not gone away, and is increasingly exacerbated by the development of resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobials. This fine review by Tiwari et al. provides an overview of how antimicrobials…
Host-interactor screens of Phytophthora infestans RXLR proteins reveal vesicle trafficking as a major effector-targeted process (Plant Cell)
Plant Science Research WeeklyIt’s like the plot of every spy movie you’ve ever seen. If you could infiltrate your opponent’s headquarters what would you target to disable your enemy? This is the question addressed in new work by Petre et al. More than ten years ago, a family of small proteins was identified, the RXLR proteins…
Not PTI or ETI: PTI and ETI (Nature)
Plant Science Research WeeklyTwo very exciting papers have come out this week in Nature that address a long-standing question about the relative contributions of two different plant immunity pathways. PTI (pathogen-triggered immunity) recognizes conserved pathogen signatures at the plant cell surface; a model system for PTI is the…
Regulation of ACD6 ion channel-like protein by small peptides (bioRxiv)
Plant Science Research WeeklyACCELERATED CELL DEATH 6 (ACD6) positively regulates the signaling of the plant defense hormone salicylic acid (SA). It was originally identified by the study of natural variation in defense responses of Arabidopsis thaliana. The naturally hyperactive ACD6-Est-I allele confers broad-spectrum disease…