The Phylogenetically-Related Pattern Recognition Receptors EFR and XA21 Recruit Similar Immune Signaling Components in Monocots and Dicots

• Published in: PLoS pathogens Vol. 11; no. 1; p. e1004602
• Main Authors: Holton, Nicholas, Nekrasov, Vladimir, Ronald, Pamela C., Zipfel, Cyril
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.01.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Agrobacterium tumefaciens - immunology; Agrobacterium tumefaciens - pathogenicity; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - immunology; Arabidopsis - microbiology; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Arabidopsis thaliana; Cellular signal transduction; Charitable foundations; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Disease; Diseases and pests; DNA; Experiments; Flowers & plants; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genetic aspects; Genomes; Health aspects; Identification and classification; Immune response; Kinases; Laboratories; Ligands; Oryza - genetics; Oryza - immunology; Oryza - microbiology; Pattern recognition; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Plant Diseases - genetics; Plant Diseases - immunology; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plant Immunity - genetics; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plant-pathogen relationships; Plants, Genetically Modified; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases - genetics; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism; Proteins; Pseudomonas syringae - immunology; Pseudomonas syringae - pathogenicity; Receptors, Pattern Recognition - genetics; Receptors, Pattern Recognition - metabolism; Signal Transduction - genetics; Signal Transduction - immunology
• ISSN: 1553-7374; 1553-7366; 1553-7374
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004602

During plant immunity, surface-localized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). The transfer of PRRs between plant species is a promising strategy for engineering broad-spectrum disease resistance. Thus, there is a great interest in understanding the mechanisms of PRR-mediated resistance across different plant species. Two well-characterized plant PRRs are the leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases (LRR-RKs) EFR and XA21 from Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) and rice, respectively. Interestingly, despite being evolutionary distant, EFR and XA21 are phylogenetically closely related and are both members of the sub-family XII of LRR-RKs that contains numerous potential PRRs. Here, we compared the ability of these related PRRs to engage immune signaling across the monocots-dicots taxonomic divide. Using chimera between Arabidopsis EFR and rice XA21, we show that the kinase domain of the rice XA21 is functional in triggering elf18-induced signaling and quantitative immunity to the bacteria Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pto) DC3000 and Agrobacterium tumefaciens in Arabidopsis. Furthermore, the EFR:XA21 chimera associates dynamically in a ligand-dependent manner with known components of the EFR complex. Conversely, EFR associates with Arabidopsis orthologues of rice XA21-interacting proteins, which appear to be involved in EFR-mediated signaling and immunity in Arabidopsis. Our work indicates the overall functional conservation of immune components acting downstream of distinct LRR-RK-type PRRs between monocots and dicots.