Tomato Cf genes confer resistance to C. fulvum, reside in complex loci carrying multiple genes, and encode predicted membrane-bound proteins with extracytoplasmic leucine-rich repeats. At least two Cf-9 homologs confer novel C. fulvum resistance specificities. Comparison of 11 genes revealed 7 hypervariable amino acid positions in a motif of the leucine-rich repeats predicted to form a beta-strand/beta-turn in which the hypervariable residues are solvent exposed and potentially contribute to recognition specificity. Higher nonsynonymous than synonymous substitution rates in this region imply selection for sequence diversification. We propose that the level of polymorphism between intergenic regions determines the frequency of sequence exchange between the tandemly repeated genes. This permits sufficient exchange to generate sequence diversity but prevents sequence homogenization.

The tomato Cf-9 gene confers resistance to infection by races of the fungus Cladosporium fulvum that carry the avirulence gene Avr9. The Cf-9 gene was isolated by transposon tagging with the maize transposable element Dissociation. The DNA sequence of Cf-9 encodes a putative membrane-anchored extracytoplasmic glycoprotein. The predicted protein shows homology to the receptor domain of several receptor-like protein kinases in Arabidopsis, to antifungal polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins in plants, and to other members of the leucine-rich repeat family of proteins. This structure is consistent with that of a receptor that could bind Avr9 peptide and activate plant defense.

In plants, resistance to pathogens is frequently determined by dominant resistance genes, whose products are proposed to recognize pathogen-encoded avirulence gene (Avr) products. The tomato resistance locus Cf-2 was isolated by positional cloning and found to contain two almost identical genes, each conferring resistance to isolates of tomato leaf mould (C. fulvum) expressing the corresponding Avr2 gene. The two Cf-2 genes encode protein products that differ from each other by only three amino acids and contain 38 leucine-rich repeat (LRR) motifs. Of the LRRs, 20 show extremely conserved alternating repeats. The C-terminus of Cf-2 carries regions of pronounced homology to the protein encoded by the unlinked Cf-9 gene. We suggest that this conserved region interacts with other proteins involved in activating plant defense mechanisms.

Plasmodesmata provide the cytoplasmic conduits for cell-to-cell communication throughout plant tissues and participate in a diverse set of non–cell-autonomous functions. Despite their central role in growth and development and defence, resolving their modus operandi remains a major challenge in plant biology. Features of protein sequences and/or structure that determine protein targeting to plasmodesmata were previously unknown. We identify here a novel family of plasmodesmata-located proteins (called PDLP1) whose members have the features of type I membrane receptor-like proteins. We focus our studies on the first identified type member (namely At5g43980, or PDLP1a) and show that, following its altered expression, it is effective in modulating cell-to-cell trafficking. PDLP1a is targeted to plasmodesmata via the secretory pathway in a Brefeldin A–sensitive and COPII-dependent manner, and resides at plasmodesmata with its C-terminus in the cytoplasmic domain and its N-terminus in the apoplast. Using a deletion analysis, we show that the single transmembrane domain (TMD) of PDLP1a contains all the information necessary for intracellular targeting of this type I membrane protein to plasmodesmata, such that the TMD can be used to target heterologous proteins to this location. These studies identify a new family of plasmodesmal proteins that affect cell-to-cell communication. They exhibit a mode of intracellular trafficking and targeting novel for plant biology and provide technological opportunities for targeting different proteins to plasmodesmata to aid in plasmodesmal characterisation.

Little is known of how plant disease resistance (R) proteins recognize pathogens and activate plant defenses. Rcr3 is specifically required for the function of Cf-2, a Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium gene bred into cultivated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) for resistance to Cladosporium fulvum. Rcr3 encodes a secreted papain-like cysteine endoprotease. Genetic analysis shows Rcr3 is allelic to the L. pimpinellifolium Ne gene, which suppresses the Cf-2-dependent autonecrosis conditioned by its L. esculentum allele, ne (necrosis). Rcr3 alleles from these two species encode proteins that differ by only seven amino acids. Possible roles of Rcr3 in Cf-2-dependent defense and autonecrosis are discussed.

Plasmodesmata (Pds) traverse the cell wall to establish a symplastic continuum through most of the plant. Rapid and reversible deposition of callose in the cell wall surrounding the Pd apertures is proposed to provide a regulatory process through physical constriction of the symplastic channel. We identified members within a larger family of X8 domaincontaining proteins that targeted to Pds. This subgroup of proteins contains signal sequences for a glycosylphosphatidylinositol linkage to the extracellular face of the plasma membrane. We focused our attention on three closely related members of this family, two of which specifically bind to 1,3-b-glucans (callose) in vitro. We named this family of proteins Pd callose binding proteins (PDCBs). Yellow fluorescent protein-PDCB1 was found to localize to the neck region of Pds with potential to provide a structural anchor between the plasma membrane component of Pds and the cell wall. PDCB1, PDCB2, and PDCB3 had overlapping and widespread patterns of expression, but neither single nor combined insertional mutants for PDCB2 and PDCB3 showed any visible phenotype. However, increased expression of PDCB1 led to an increase in callose accumulation and a reduction of green fluorescent protein (GFP) movement in a GFP diffusion assay, identifying a potential association between PDCB-mediated callose deposition and plant cell-to-cell communication.

In many interactions between plants and their pathogens, resistance to infection is specified by plant resistance (R) genes and corresponding pathogen avirulence (Av4 genes. In tomato, the Cf-4 and Cf-9 resistance genes map to the same location but confer resistance to Cladosporium fulvum through recognition of different avirulence determinants (AVR4 and AVR9) by a molecular mechanism that has yet to be determined. Here, we describe the cloning and characterization of Cf-4, which also encodes a membrane-anchored extracellular glycoprotein. Cf-4 contains 25 leucine-rich repeats, which is two fewer than Cf-9. The proteins have >91 YO identical amino acids. DNA sequence comparison suggests that Cf-4 and Cf-9 are derived from a common progenitor sequence. Amino acid differences distinguishing Cf-4 and Cf-9 are confined to their N termini, delimiting a region that determines the recognitional specificity of ligand binding. The majority of these differences are in residues interstitial to those of the leucine-rich repeat consensus motif. Many of these residues are predicted to form a solvent-exposed surface that can interact with the cognate ligand. Both Cf-4 and Cf-9 are located within a 36-kb region comprising five tandemly duplicated homologous genes. These results provide further insight into the molecular basis of pathogen perception by plants and the organization of complex R gene loci..

Post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) is a homology-dependent process that reduces cytoplasmic RNA levels. In several experimental systems, there is also an association of PTGS with methylation of DNA. To investigate this association, we used plants carrying a transgene encoding the green fluorescent protein (GFP). Gene silencing was induced using potato virus X RNA vectors carrying parts of the coding sequence or the promoter of the GFP transgene. In each instance, homology-based, RNA-directed methylation was associated with silencing. When the GFP -transcribed region was targeted, PTGS affected both transgene and viral RNA levels. When methylation was targeted to a promoter region, transgene RNA levels were reduced; however, viral RNA levels were unaffected. For comparison, we induced PTGS of the gene encoding the endogenous ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (Rubisco) small subunit ( rbcS ) by inoculation with potato virus X-rbcS. In this example, no methylation of the rbcS DNA was associated with the reduction in rbcS transcript levels, and viral RNA levels were unaffected. Finally, we investigated DNA methylation by using GFP -transformed plants in which PTGS was induced by localized introduction of a T-DNA carrying GFP sequences. In these plants, there was methylation of a GFP transgene associated with systemic spread of a gene-silencing signal from the infiltrated part of the plant. This transgene methylation was not affected when systemic PTGS was blocked by suppressors of silencing encoded by potato virus Y and cucumber mosaic virus. Combined, these data support an epigenetic model of PTGS in which transgene methylation is associated with an RNA-DNA interaction that ensures that PTGS is maintained. INTRODUCTIONPost-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) is a genetic control mechanism that operates at the level of sequence-specific RNA degradation and acts against transgenes, endogenous genes, and viruses (reviewed in Depicker and Van Montagu, 1997;Stam et al., 1997a; van den Boogaart et al., 1998). Although PTGS originally was identified in plants, recent evidence suggests that a similar mechanism exists in animals (Fire et al., 1998;Kennerdell and Carthew, 1998).In transgenic plants, particularly in lines that carry multiple transgene copies, PTGS may be initiated spontaneously (Hobbs et al., 1993;Goodwin et al., 1996;Stam et al., 1997b). PTGS also can be triggered by viruses carrying homology to nuclear sequences (Lindbo et al., 1993;Kumagai et al., 1995;Jones et al., 1998a;Kjemtrup et al., 1998;Ruiz et al., 1998), by using biolistic Palauqui and Balzergue, 1999) or Agrobacteriummediated delivery of DNA (Voinnet and Baulcombe, 1997). These observations have led to proposals that ectopic interactions between homologous nucleic acids lead to the onset of PTGS Selker, 1999).Several studies have indicated an association between PTGS and coding region methylation in plants (Ingelbrecht et al., 1994;English et al., 1996;Sijen et al., 1996; van Houdt et al., 1997). Indeed, methylation may p...