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Publications - Stress and Develop Biology

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Publications

Wirthmueller, L.; Asai, S.; Rallapalli, G.; Sklenar, J.; Fabro, G.; Kim, D. S.; Lintermann, R.; Jaspers, P.; Wrzaczek, M.; Kangasjärvi, J.; MacLean, D.; Menke, F. L. H.; Banfield, M. J.; Jones, J. D. G.; Arabidopsis downy mildew effector HaRxL106 suppresses plant immunity by binding to RADICAL-INDUCED CELL DEATH1 New Phytol. 220, 232-248, (2018) DOI: 10.1111/nph.15277

The oomycete pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis (Hpa) causes downy mildew disease on Arabidopsis. To colonize its host, Hpa translocates effector proteins that suppress plant immunity into infected host cells. Here, we investigate the relevance of the interaction between one of these effectors, HaRxL106, and Arabidopsis RADICAL‐INDUCED CELL DEATH1 (RCD1).We use pathogen infection assays as well as molecular and biochemical analyses to test the hypothesis that HaRxL106 manipulates RCD1 to attenuate transcriptional activation of defense genes.We report that HaRxL106 suppresses transcriptional activation of salicylic acid (SA)‐induced defense genes and alters plant growth responses to light. HaRxL106‐mediated suppression of immunity is abolished in RCD1 loss‐of‐function mutants. We report that RCD1‐type proteins are phosphorylated, and we identified Mut9‐like kinases (MLKs), which function as phosphoregulatory nodes at the level of photoreceptors, as RCD1‐interacting proteins. An mlk1,3,4 triple mutant exhibits stronger SA‐induced defense marker gene expression compared with wild‐type plants, suggesting that MLKs also affect transcriptional regulation of SA signaling.Based on the combined evidence, we hypothesize that nuclear RCD1/MLK complexes act as signaling nodes that integrate information from environmental cues and pathogen sensors, and that the Arabidopsis downy mildew pathogen targets RCD1 to prevent activation of plant immunity.
Publications

Sarris, P.; Duxbury, Z.; Huh, S.; Ma, Y.; Segonzac, C.; Sklenar, J.; Derbyshire, P.; Cevik, V.; Rallapalli, G.; Saucet, S.; Wirthmueller, L.; Menke, F. H.; Sohn, K.; Jones, J. G.; A Plant Immune Receptor Detects Pathogen Effectors that Target WRKY Transcription Factors Cell 161, 1089-1100, (2015) DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.04.024

Defense against pathogens in multicellular eukaryotes depends on intracellular immune receptors, yet surveillance by these receptors is poorly understood. Several plant nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) immune receptors carry fusions with other protein domains. The Arabidopsis RRS1-R NB-LRR protein carries a C-terminal WRKY DNA binding domain and forms a receptor complex with RPS4, another NB-LRR protein. This complex detects the bacterial effectors AvrRps4 or PopP2 and then activates defense. Both bacterial proteins interact with the RRS1 WRKY domain, and PopP2 acetylates lysines to block DNA binding. PopP2 and AvrRps4 interact with other WRKY domain-containing proteins, suggesting these effectors interfere with WRKY transcription factor-dependent defense, and RPS4/RRS1 has integrated a “decoy” domain that enables detection of effectors that target WRKY proteins. We propose that NB-LRR receptor pairs, one member of which carries an additional protein domain, enable perception of pathogen effectors whose function is to target that domain.
Publications

Wirthmueller, L.; Roth, C.; Fabro, G.; Caillaud, M.-C.; Rallapalli, G.; Asai, S.; Sklenar, J.; Jones, A. M. E.; Wiermer, M.; Jones, J. D. G.; Banfield, M. J.; Probing formation of cargo/importin-α transport complexes in plant cells using a pathogen effector Plant J. 81, 40-52, (2015) DOI: 10.1111/tpj.12691

Importin‐αs are essential adapter proteins that recruit cytoplasmic proteins destined for active nuclear import to the nuclear transport machinery. Cargo proteins interact with the importin‐α armadillo repeat domain via nuclear localization sequences (NLSs), short amino acids motifs enriched in Lys and Arg residues. Plant genomes typically encode several importin‐α paralogs that can have both specific and partially redundant functions. Although some cargos are preferentially imported by a distinct importin‐α it remains unknown how this specificity is generated and to what extent cargos compete for binding to nuclear transport receptors. Here we report that the effector protein HaRxL106 from the oomycete pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis co‐opts the host cell's nuclear import machinery. We use HaRxL106 as a probe to determine redundant and specific functions of importin‐α paralogs from Arabidopsis thaliana. A crystal structure of the importin‐α3/MOS6 armadillo repeat domain suggests that five of the six Arabidopsis importin‐αs expressed in rosette leaves have an almost identical NLS‐binding site. Comparison of the importin‐α binding affinities of HaRxL106 and other cargos in vitro and in plant cells suggests that relatively small affinity differences in vitro affect the rate of transport complex formation in vivo. Our results suggest that cargo affinity for importin‐α, sequence variation at the importin‐α NLS‐binding sites and tissue‐specific expression levels of importin‐αs determine formation of cargo/importin‐α transport complexes in plant cells.
Publications

Asai, S.; Rallapalli, G.; Piquerez, S. J. M.; Caillaud, M.-C.; Furzer, O. J.; Ishaque, N.; Wirthmueller, L.; Fabro, G.; Shirasu, K.; Jones, J. D. G.; Expression Profiling during Arabidopsis/Downy Mildew Interaction Reveals a Highly-Expressed Effector That Attenuates Responses to Salicylic Acid PLOS Pathog. 10, e1004443, (2014) DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004443

Plants have evolved strong innate immunity mechanisms, but successful pathogens evade or suppress plant immunity via effectors delivered into the plant cell. Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis (Hpa) causes downy mildew on Arabidopsis thaliana, and a genome sequence is available for isolate Emoy2. Here, we exploit the availability of genome sequences for Hpa and Arabidopsis to measure gene-expression changes in both Hpa and Arabidopsis simultaneously during infection. Using a high-throughput cDNA tag sequencing method, we reveal expression patterns of Hpa predicted effectors and Arabidopsis genes in compatible and incompatible interactions, and promoter elements associated with Hpa genes expressed during infection. By resequencing Hpa isolate Waco9, we found it evades Arabidopsis resistance gene RPP1 through deletion of the cognate recognized effector ATR1. Arabidopsis salicylic acid (SA)-responsive genes including PR1 were activated not only at early time points in the incompatible interaction but also at late time points in the compatible interaction. By histochemical analysis, we found that Hpa suppresses SA-inducible PR1 expression, specifically in the haustoriated cells into which host-translocated effectors are delivered, but not in non-haustoriated adjacent cells. Finally, we found a highly-expressed Hpa effector candidate that suppresses responsiveness to SA. As this approach can be easily applied to host-pathogen interactions for which both host and pathogen genome sequences are available, this work opens the door towards transcriptome studies in infection biology that should help unravel pathogen infection strategies and the mechanisms by which host defense responses are overcome.
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