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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Assaying Proteasomal Degradation in a Cell-free System in Plants
Published on: March 26, 2014
Vacuolar sorting receptors regulates autophagic trafficking of pathogenic effectors in plant immunity
Shuai Hu1,2, Dongmei Zhu1,2, Yanli Gao1,2
1State Key Laboratory for Development and Utilization of Forest Food Resources, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China.
Abstract:
Selective autophagy functions not only in nutrient recycling and stress adaptation but also in the degradation of pathogen-derived virulence effectors during effector‑triggered immunity (ETI). However, how vacuolar sorting receptors (VSRs) coordinate endomembrane trafficking and selective autophagy during ETI remained poorly understood. In a recent study, we identified four pathogen‑inducible VSRs (VSR1, VSR5, VSR6, VSR7) that play important roles in regulating vacuolar cargo sorting, tonoplast - plasma membrane fusion, and hypersensitive cell death during ETI. Importantly, upon pathogen invasion and immune activation, VSR1 dynamically relocalized from the prevacuolar compartment/multivesicular body (PVC/MVB) to ATG8-positive autophagosomes. Moreover, loss of VSR function impaired autophagic flux and disrupted degradation of bacterial effectors. These observations illustrated a model in which pathogen-responsive VSRs function as a trafficking hub, integrating secretory and effector-phagy to enable rapid and effective plant immunity during ETI.Abbreviations: VSRs, vacuolar sorting receptors; TGN, trans-Golgi network; PVC/MVB, prevacuolar compartment/multivesicular body; ETI, effector‑triggered immunity; P. syringae,Pseudomonas syringae; PM, plasma membrane; NLR, nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat; HR, hypersensitive response; ECS, extracellular space; NPR1, nonexpressor of pathogenesis-related genes 1; AP, adaptor protein; PLCPs, pathogen-inducible papain-like cysteine proteases; ATG, autophagy-related; NBR1, neighbor of BRCA1 gene 1 protein; FLS2, FLAGELLIN-SENSING 2.
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