Directed Evolution of a Plant Immune Receptor for Broad Spectrum Effector Recognition
Ellen Y Rim1, Oscar D Garrett1, Alexander J Howard1
1Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|February 20, 2025
Summary
Developing new crop immune receptors is crucial for disease resistance. This study uses yeast surface display and directed evolution to engineer rice immune receptors that recognize diverse pathogen effectors, enhancing crop protection.
Area of Science:
- Plant pathology
- Molecular biology
- Agricultural science
Background:
- Developing novel immune receptors is essential for crop protection against emerging pathogens.
- Engineering plant immune receptors is limited by low-throughput in planta testing methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a high-throughput platform for engineering plant immune receptors.
- To evolve the rice immune receptor Pik-1 to recognize diverse effectors from Magnaporthe oryzae.
Main Methods:
- Utilized yeast surface display for high-throughput screening of plant immune receptor-ligand interactions.
- Employed directed evolution to engineer the ligand binding domain of the rice immune receptor Pik-1.
- Performed in planta assays to confirm functional recognition of engineered receptors.
Main Results:
- Engineered Pik-1 ligand binding domains recognized previously undetected variants of the Magnaporthe oryzae effector Avr-Pik.
- Achieved functional recognition of these effectors in planta.
- Developed a Pik-1 domain that binds all tested Avr-Pik variants and the divergent effector AvrPiz-t.
Conclusions:
- Yeast surface display coupled with directed evolution is a powerful platform for engineering plant immune receptors.
- This approach can accelerate the development of broad-spectrum disease resistance in crops.
- Engineered immune receptors can recognize a wide range of novel pathogen-derived ligands.
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