ROPGAPs of Arabidopsis limit susceptibility to powdery mildew

The barley ROP GTPase HvRACB is a susceptibility factor of barley to powdery mildew caused by the biotrophic fungus Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei (Bgh). In a recent publication, we reported about a MICROTUBULE-ASSOCIATED ROP GTPASE-ACTIVATING PROTEIN 1 (HvMAGAP1) of barley. Transient-induced gene silencing or overexpression of HvMAGAP1 resulted in enhanced or reduced susceptibility to Bgh, respectively, indicating a possible HvRACB-antagonistic function of HvMAGAP1 in interaction with Bgh. HvMAGAP1 also influences the polarity of cortical microtubules in interaction with Bgh. In AtROPGAP1 and AtROPGAP4, Arabidopsis homologs of HvMAGAP1, knock-out T-DNA insertions enhanced susceptibility of Arabidopsis to the virulent powdery mildew fungus Erysiphe cruciferarum, indicating functions of ROPGAPs in pathogen interaction of monocots and dicots. Here we discuss the role of AtROPGAP1 and AtROPGAP4 in Arabidopsis pathogenesis of powdery mildew in some more detail.