scholarly journals Two Arabidopsis Homologs of Human Lysine-Specific Demethylase Function in Epigenetic Regulation of Plant Defense Responses

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seong Woo Noh ◽  
Ri-Ra Seo ◽  
Hee Jin Park ◽  
Ho Won Jung

Epigenetic marks such as covalent histone modification and DNA methylation are crucial for mitotically and meiotically inherited cellular memory-based plant immunity. However, the roles of individual players in the epigenetic regulation of plant immunity are not fully understood. Here we reveal the functions of two Arabidopsis thaliana homologs of human lysine-specific demethylase1-like1, LDL1 and LDL2, in the maintenance of methyl groups at lysine 4 of histone H3 and in plant immunity to Pseudomonas syringae infection. The growth of virulent P. syringae strains was reduced in ldl1 and ldl2 single mutants compared to wild-type plants. Local and systemic disease resistance responses, which coincided with the rapid, robust transcription of defense-related genes, were more stably expressed in ldl1 ldl2 double mutants than in the single mutants. At the nucleosome level, mono-methylated histone H3K4 accumulated in ldl1 ldl2 plants genome-wide and in the mainly promoter regions of the defense-related genes examined in this study. Furthermore, in silico comparative analysis of RNA-sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation data suggested that several WRKY transcription factors, e.g., WRKY22/40/70, might be partly responsible for the enhanced immunity of ldl1 ldl2. These findings suggest that LDL1 and LDL2 control the transcriptional sensitivity of a group of defense-related genes to establish a primed defense response in Arabidopsis.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (20) ◽  
pp. 7482
Author(s):  
Aarti Gupta ◽  
Mamta Bhardwaj ◽  
Lam-Son Phan Tran

Sensing of pathogen infection by plants elicits early signals that are transduced to affect defense mechanisms, such as effective blockage of pathogen entry by regulation of stomatal closure, cuticle, or callose deposition, change in water potential, and resource acquisition among many others. Pathogens, on the other hand, interfere with plant physiology and protein functioning to counteract plant defense responses. In plants, hormonal homeostasis and signaling are tightly regulated; thus, the phytohormones are qualified as a major group of signaling molecules controlling the most widely tinkered regulatory networks of defense and counter-defense strategies. Notably, the phytohormone jasmonic acid mediates plant defense responses to a wide array of pathogens. In this review, we present the synopsis on the jasmonic acid metabolism and signaling, and the regulatory roles of this hormone in plant defense against the hemibiotrophic bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. We also elaborate on how this pathogen releases virulence factors and effectors to gain control over plant jasmonic acid signaling to effectively cause disease. The findings discussed in this review may lead to ideas for the development of crop cultivars with enhanced disease resistance by genetic manipulation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catalina Rodriguez-Puerto ◽  
Rupak Chakraborty ◽  
Raksha Singh ◽  
Perla Rocha-Loyola ◽  
Clemencia M. Rojas

The plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000) has become a paradigm in plant-bacteria interactions due to its ability to cause disease in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Pst DC3000 uses the type III secretion system to deliver type III secreted effectors (T3SEs) directly into the plant cytoplasm. Pst DC3000 T3SEs contribute to pathogenicity by suppressing plant defense responses and targeting plant’s physiological processes. Although the complete repertoire of effectors encoded in the Pst DC3000 genome have been identified, the specific function for most of them remains to be elucidated. The mitochondrial-localized T3E HopG1, suppresses plant defense responses and promotes the development of disease symptoms. Here, we show that HopG1 triggers necrotic cell death that enables the growth of non-adapted pathogens. We further showed that HopG1 interacts with the plant immunity-related protein AtNHR2B and that AtNHR2B attenuates HopG1- virulence functions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari Kurokawa ◽  
Masataka Nakano ◽  
Nobutaka Kitahata ◽  
Kazuyuki Kuchitsu ◽  
Toshiki Furuya

AbstractMicroorganisms that activate plant immune responses have attracted considerable attention as potential biocontrol agents in agriculture because they could reduce agrochemical use. However, conventional methods to screen for such microorganisms using whole plants and pathogens are generally laborious and time consuming. Here, we describe a general strategy using cultured plant cells to identify microorganisms that activate plant defense responses based on plant–microbe interactions. Microbial cells were incubated with tobacco BY-2 cells, followed by treatment with cryptogein, a proteinaceous elicitor of tobacco immune responses secreted by an oomycete. Cryptogein-induced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in BY-2 cells served as a marker to evaluate the potential of microorganisms to activate plant defense responses. Twenty-nine bacterial strains isolated from the interior of Brassica rapa var. perviridis plants were screened, and 8 strains that enhanced cryptogein-induced ROS production in BY-2 cells were selected. Following application of these strains to the root tip of Arabidopsis seedlings, two strains, Delftia sp. BR1R-2 and Arthrobacter sp. BR2S-6, were found to induce whole-plant resistance to bacterial pathogens (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 and Pectobacterium carotovora subsp. carotovora NBRC 14082). Pathogen-induced expression of plant defense-related genes (PR-1, PR-5, and PDF1.2) was enhanced by the pretreatment with strain BR1R-2. This cell–cell interaction-based platform is readily applicable to large-scale screening for microorganisms that enhance plant defense responses under various environmental conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 4214
Author(s):  
Gautam Anand ◽  
Meirav Leibman-Markus ◽  
Dorin Elkabetz ◽  
Maya Bar

Plants lack a circulating adaptive immune system to protect themselves against pathogens. Therefore, they have evolved an innate immune system based upon complicated and efficient defense mechanisms, either constitutive or inducible. Plant defense responses are triggered by elicitors such as microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs). These components are recognized by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) which include plant cell surface receptors. Upon recognition, PRRs trigger pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). Ethylene Inducing Xylanase (EIX) is a fungal MAMP protein from the plant-growth-promoting fungi (PGPF)–Trichoderma. It elicits plant defense responses in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), making it an excellent tool in the studies of plant immunity. Xylanases such as EIX are hydrolytic enzymes that act on xylan in hemicellulose. There are two types of xylanases: the endo-1, 4-β-xylanases that hydrolyze within the xylan structure, and the β-d-xylosidases that hydrolyze the ends of the xylan chain. Xylanases are mainly synthesized by fungi and bacteria. Filamentous fungi produce xylanases in high amounts and secrete them in liquid cultures, making them an ideal system for xylanase purification. Here, we describe a method for cost- and yield-effective xylanase production from Trichoderma using wheat bran as a growth substrate. Xylanase produced by this method possessed xylanase activity and immunogenic activity, effectively inducing a hypersensitive response, ethylene biosynthesis, and ROS burst.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (17) ◽  
pp. 5256-5268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Chen ◽  
Michael Clinton ◽  
Guang Qi ◽  
Daowen Wang ◽  
Fengquan Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract As a plant hormone, salicylic acid (SA) plays essential roles in plant defense against biotrophic and hemibiotrophic pathogens. Significant progress has been made in understanding the SA biosynthesis pathways and SA-mediated defense signaling networks in the past two decades. Plant defense responses involve rapid and massive transcriptional reprogramming upon the recognition of pathogens. Plant transcription factors and their co-regulators are critical players in establishing a transcription regulatory network and boosting plant immunity. A multitude of transcription factors and epigenetic regulators have been discovered, and their roles in SA-mediated defense responses have been reported. However, our understanding of plant transcriptional networks is still limited. As such, novel genomic tools and bioinformatic techniques will be necessary if we are to fully understand the mechanisms behind plant immunity. Here, we discuss current knowledge, provide an update on the SA biosynthesis pathway, and describe the transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of SA-mediated plant immune responses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beibei Li ◽  
Ruolin Wang ◽  
Shiya Wang ◽  
Jiang Zhang ◽  
Ling Chang

Cytokinins (CKs) can modulate plant immunity to various pathogens, but how CKs are involved in plant defense responses to the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea is still unknown. Here, we found that B. cinerea infection induced transcriptional changes in multiple genes involved in the biosynthesis, degradation, and signaling of CKs, as well as their contents, in pathogen-infected Arabidopsis leaves. Among the CKs, the gene expression of CYTOKININ OXIDASE/DEHYDROGENASE 5 (CKX5) was remarkably induced in the local infected leaves and the distant leaves of the same plant without pathogen inoculation. Cis-zeatin (cZ) and its riboside (cZR) accumulated considerably in infected leaves, suggesting an important role of the cis-zeatin type of CKs in the plant response to B. cinerea. Cytokinin double-receptor mutants were more susceptible to B. cinerea infection, whereas an exogenous CK treatment enhanced the expression levels of defense-related genes and of jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET), but not salicylic acid (SA), resulting in higher resistance of Arabidopsis to B. cinerea. Investigation of CK responses to B. cinerea infection in the JA biosynthesis mutant, jar1-1, and ET-insensitive mutant, ein2-1, showed that CK signaling and levels of CKs, namely, those of isopentenyladenine (iP), isopentenyladenine riboside (iPR), and trans-zeatin (tZ), were enhanced in jar1-1-infected leaves. By contrast, reductions in iP, iPR, tZ, and tZ riboside (tZR) as well as cZR contents occurred in ein2-1-infected leaves, whose transcript levels of CK signaling genes were likewise differentially regulated. The Arabidopsis Response Regulator 5 (ARR5) gene was upregulated in infected leaves of ein2-1 whereas another type-A response regulator, ARR16, was significantly downregulated, suggesting the existence of a complex regulation of CK signaling via the ET pathway. Accumulation of the cis-zeatin type of CKs in B. cinerea-infected leaves depended on ET but not JA pathways. Collectively, our findings provide evidence that CK responds to B. cinerea infection in a variety of ways that are differently modulated by JA and ET pathways in Arabidopsis.


2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Sessa ◽  
Gregory B. Martin

The research problem: The detection of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by plant pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) is a key mechanism by which plants activate an effective immune response against pathogen attack. MAPK cascades are important signaling components downstream of PRRs that transduce the PAMP signal to activate various defense responses. Preliminary experiments suggested that the receptor-like cytoplasmickinase (RLCK) Mai5 plays a positive role in pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and interacts with the MAPKKK M3Kε. We thus hypothesized that Mai5, as other RLCKs, functions as a component PRR complexes and acts as a molecular link between PAMP perception and activation of MAPK cascades. Original goals: The central goal of this research was to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which Mai5 and M3Kε regulate plant immunity. Specific objectives were to: 1. Determine the spectrum of PAMPs whose perception is transmitted by M3Kε; 2. Identify plant proteins that act downstream of M3Kε to mediate PTI; 3. Investigate how and where Mai5 interacts with M3Kε in the plant cell; 4. Examine the mechanism by which Mai5 contributes to PTI. Changes in research directions: We did not find convincing evidence for the involvement of M3Kε in PTI signaling and substituted objectives 1 and 3 with research activities aimed at the analysis of transcriptomic profiles of tomato plants during the onset of plant immunity, isolation of the novel tomato PRR FLS3, and investigation of the involvement of the RLCKBSKs in PTI. Main achievements during this research program are in the following major areas: 1. Functional characterization of Mai5. The function of Mai5 in PTI signaling was demonstrated by testing the effect of silencing the Mai5 gene by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) experiments and in cell death assays. Domains of Mai5 that interact with MAPKKKs and subcellular localization of Mai5 were analyzed in detail. 2. Analysis of transcriptional profiles during the tomato immune responses to Pseudomonas syringae (Pombo et al., 2014). We identified tomato genes whose expression is induced specifically in PTI or in effector-triggered immunity (ETI). Thirty ETI-specific genes were examined by VIGS for their involvement in immunity and the MAPKKK EPK1, was found to be required for ETI. 3. Dissection of MAP kinase cascades downstream of M3Kε (Oh et al., 2013; Teper et al., 2015). We identified genes that encode positive (SGT and EDS1) and negative (WRKY1 and WRKY2) regulators of the ETI-associated cell death mediated by M3Kε. In addition, the MKK2 MAPKK, which acts downstream of M3Kε, was found to interact with the MPK3 MAPK and specific MPK3 amino acids involved interaction were identified and found to be required for induction of cell death. We also identified 5 type III effectors of the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonaseuvesicatoria that inhibited cell death induced by components of ETI-associated MAP kinase cascades. 4. Isolation of the tomato PRR FLS3 (Hind et al., submitted). FLS3, a novel PRR of the LRR-RLK family that specifically recognizes the flagellinepitope flgII-28 was isolated. FLS3 was shown to bind flgII-28, to require kinase activity for function, to act in concert with BAK1, and to enhance disease resistance to Pseudomonas syringae. 5. Functional analysis of RLCKs of the brassinosteroid signaling kinase (BSK) family.Arabidopsis and tomato BSKs were found to interact with PRRs. In addition, certain ArabidospsisBSK mutants were found to be impaired in PAMP-induced resistance to Pseudomonas syringae. Scientific and agricultural significance: Our research activities discovered and characterized new molecular components of signaling pathways mediating recognition of invading pathogens and activation of immune responses against them. Increased understanding of molecular mechanisms of immunity will allow them to be manipulated by both molecular breeding and genetic engineering to produce plants with enhanced natural defense against disease.


2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (7) ◽  
pp. 1536-1555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronny V�lz ◽  
Soon-Kap Kim ◽  
Jianing Mi ◽  
Kiruthiga G Mariappan ◽  
Anna Siodmak ◽  
...  

Abstract INDETERMINATE DOMAIN (IDD)/BIRD proteins belong to a highly conserved plant-specific group of transcription factors with dedicated functions in plant physiology and development. Here, we took advantage of the chimeric repressor gene-silencing technology (CRES-T, SRDX) to widen our view on the role of IDD4/IMPERIAL EAGLE and IDD family members in plant immunity. The hypomorphic idd4SRDX lines are compromised in growth and show a robust autoimmune phenotype. Hormonal measurements revealed the concomitant accumulation of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid suggesting that IDDs are involved in regulating the metabolism of these biotic stress hormones. The analysis of immunity-pathways showed enhanced activation of immune MAP kinase-signaling pathways, the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide and spontaneous programmed cell death. The transcriptome of nonelicited idd4SRDX lines can be aligned to approximately 40% of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in flg22-treated wild-type plants. The pattern of DEGs implies IDDs as pivotal repressors of flg22-dependent gene induction. Infection experiments showed the increased resistance of idd4SRDX lines to Pseudomonas syringae and Botrytis cinerea implying a function of IDDs in defense adaptation to hemibiotrophs and necrotrophs. Genome-wide IDD4 DNA-binding studies (DAP-SEQ) combined with DEG analysis of idd4SRDX lines identified IDD4-regulated functional gene clusters that contribute to plant growth and development. In summary, we discovered that the expression of idd4SRDX activates a wide range of defense-related traits opening up the possibility to apply idd4SRDX as a powerful tool to stimulate innate immunity in engineered crops.


2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huanbin Zhou ◽  
Robyn L. Morgan ◽  
David S. Guttman ◽  
Wenbo Ma

The bacterial plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae depends on the type III secretion system and type III-secreted effectors to cause disease in plants. HopZ is a diverse family of type III effectors widely distributed in P. syringae isolates. Among the HopZ homologs, HopZ1 is ancient to P. syringae and has been shown to be under strong positive selection driven by plant resistance-imposed selective pressure. Here, we characterized the virulence and avirulence functions of the three HopZ1 alleles in soybean and Nicotiana benthamiana. In soybean, HopZ1 alleles have distinct functions: HopZ1a triggers defense response, HopZ1b promotes bacterial growth, and HopZ1c has no observable effect. In N. benthamiana, HopZ1a and HopZ1b both induce plant defense responses. However, they appear to trigger different resistance pathways, evidenced by two major differences between HopZ1a- and HopZ1b-triggered hypersensitive response (HR): i) the putative N-acylation sites had no effect on HopZ1a-triggered cell death, whereas it greatly enhanced HopZ1b-triggered cell death; and ii) the HopZ1b-triggered HR, but not the HopZ1a-triggered HR, was suppressed by another HopZ homolog, HopZ3. We previously demonstrated that HopZ1a most resembled the ancestral allelic form of HopZ1; therefore, this new evidence suggested that differentiated resistance systems have evolved in plant hosts to adapt to HopZ1 diversification in P. syringae.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seonghee Lee ◽  
Dong Sik Yang ◽  
Srinivasa Rao Uppalapati ◽  
Lloyd W Sumner ◽  
Kirankumar S Mysore

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