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Arms race co-evolution of Magnaporthe oryzae AVR-Pik and rice Pik genes driven by their physical interactions

Hiroyuki Kanzaki1, Kentaro Yoshida, Hiromasa Saitoh

  • 1Iwate Biotechnology Research Center, Kitakami, Iwate, JapanUMR-BGPI, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Montpellier, FranceUMR-BGPI, CIRAD, Montpellier, France.

The Plant Journal : for Cell and Molecular Biology
|July 19, 2012
PubMed

Insights

The rice resistance gene Pik and the pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae avirulence gene AVR-Pik directly interact. This physical binding drives their co-evolutionary arms race, influencing plant-pathogen dynamics.

Area of Science:

  • Plant pathology
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Molecular genetics

Background:

  • Host-pathogen interactions drive reciprocal evolutionary selection, creating dynamics akin to an "arms race."
  • Plant resistance (R) genes and pathogen avirulence (AVR) genes are key players in these interactions, exhibiting high variability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the molecular basis of the co-evolutionary relationship between the rice resistance gene Pik and the Magnaporthe oryzae avirulence gene AVR-Pik.
  • To determine if direct physical interaction underlies the recognition specificity between AVR-Pik and Pik alleles.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of allelic variation in AVR-Pik and Pik genes.
  • Yeast two-hybrid assays to test for protein-protein interactions.
  • In planta co-immunoprecipitation assays to confirm interactions in a native environment.

Main Results:

  • Significant allelic diversity was observed in both AVR-Pik and Pik genes, with DNA changes leading to amino acid substitutions.
  • Specific alleles of AVR-Pik and Pik demonstrated tight recognition specificity.
  • Direct physical binding between AVR-Pik and the N-terminal coiled-coil domain of Pik was confirmed through both yeast two-hybrid and co-immunoprecipitation assays.
  • The observed binding specificity directly correlated with the gene recognition specificity.

Conclusions:

  • The direct physical interaction between AVR-Pik and Pik is the mechanistic basis for their specific recognition.
  • This direct interaction locks the AVR-Pik and Pik genes into a co-evolutionary arms race, shaping plant-pathogen interactions.
Keywords:
Magnaporthe oryzaeOryza sativaarms raceavirulence genecoevolutionpopulation geneticsresistance gene

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