Temperature modulates plant defense responses through NB-LRR proteins
Ying Zhu1, Weiqiang Qian, Jian Hua
1Department of Plant Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
Plos Pathogens
|April 7, 2010
Summary
Elevated temperatures hinder plant immunity. Researchers identified a heat-stable mutant in Arabidopsis, revealing that plant resistance genes are key to maintaining defense at higher temperatures.
Area of Science:
- Plant pathology
- Molecular plant-microbe interactions
- Plant immunity
Background:
- Elevated growth temperatures commonly suppress plant defense mechanisms, increasing pathogen susceptibility.
- The precise molecular regulators of this temperature-dependent modulation of plant immunity remain largely uncharacterized.
Purpose of the Study:
- To genetically identify the molecular components responsible for temperature-sensitive plant defense responses.
- To elucidate the role of plant resistance (R) genes in mediating disease resistance under elevated temperatures.
Main Methods:
- Isolation and characterization of heat-stable Arabidopsis mutants exhibiting retained disease resistance at higher growth temperatures.
- Genetic analysis of the SNC1 gene, a nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) encoding gene, in heat-stable mutants.
- Functional analysis of homologous tobacco R gene (N) and SNC1 intragenic suppressors.
Main Results:
- A point mutation in the SNC1 gene conferred heat-stable disease resistance in Arabidopsis.
- Introduction of similar mutations into the tobacco N gene also conferred defense responses at elevated temperatures.
- Reduced nuclear accumulation of SNC1 and N proteins at elevated temperatures correlated with inhibited defense responses.
- Intragenic suppressors of snc1 mutations restored temperature sensitivity to defense responses.
Conclusions:
- Plant R genes and R-like genes are critical temperature-sensitive components in plant disease resistance.
- Reduced nuclear localization of R proteins at elevated temperatures likely impairs plant defense.
- These findings offer insights for engineering crops with enhanced resilience to a wider range of temperatures.
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