seed grant competition

Understanding how pathogen-specific, disease-resistance proteins protect plants

david mackey, Horticulture and crop science The bacterium Pseudomonas syringae (P. syringae) causes spot and speck diseases on diverse plants, including soybean, tomato, and other Ohio crops. Bacteria move with the water cycle and exist ubiquitously on plant surfaces, where they live at low population levels without causing disease. Environmental conditions, including temperature and humidity, prompt the bacteria to invade the intracellular space of leaves and fruits where, in a susceptible host, they proliferate to high levels and cause disease symptoms. Because of their ubiquitous nature, the most desirable way to protect against P. syringae is to use resistant plant cultivars. Dominant resistance-, or R-genes, are a predominant form of resistance utilized by breeders. R-genes encode for proteins that function as surveillance molecules in the plant immune system. When an R-protein recognizes an elicitor from a potential pathogen including insects, nematodes, bacteria, fungi, and viruses it induces defense responses that render the plant immune. Although the R-genes roles in plant defense are well-known, the molecular mechanisms that activate the R-proteins are largely unclear. This project aimed to understand the activation process by studying the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and analyzing the activation of two R-proteins RPM1 and RPS2. The first goal of this project was to investigate the recognition specificity of RPM1 and RPS2. Previous studies have identified elicitors from P. syringae that activate RPM1 and RPS2 by targeting a common plant protein, which regulates both R-proteins. Interestingly, the team discovered that both R-proteins respond to the elicitors but with inversely related strengths. In other words, an elicitor that strongly activates RPM1 also weakly activates RPS2, and vice versa. As a result, the team shifted from a model in which individual R-proteins recognize pathogen effector proteins to a model in which effectors induce disturbances inside plant cells that are
david mackey

recognized by two or more R-proteins, which in turn activate defense responses that vary in strength. The second goal of the project was to use these elicitors to study how different characteristics of RPM1 and RPS2 account for the observed differences in their recognition specificity and response strength. The results of this study, which is ongoing, will reveal which characteristic(s) of RPM1 and RPS2 mediate recognition of their elicitors. Knowledge gained from this work will be directly applicable to R-proteins from agronomically important plants. Furthermore, it will be relevant to related proteins that are key players in animal innate immune systems, leading to a greater understanding of how to defend against pathogens.

Environmental conditions prompt the bacteria to invade the intracellular space of leaves and fruits where they proliferate to high levels and cause disease symptoms.

www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/seeds SEEDS: The OARDC Research Enhancement Competitive Grants Program

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