Nonhost resistance describes the immunity of an entire plant species against nonadapted pathogen species. We report that Arabidopsis PEN2 restricts pathogen entry of two ascomycete powdery mildew fungi that in nature colonize grass and pea species. The PEN2 glycosyl hydrolase localizes to peroxisomes and acts as a component of an inducible preinvasion resistance mechanism. Postinvasion fungal growth is blocked by a separate resistance layer requiring the EDS1-PAD4-SAG101 signaling complex, which is known to function in basal and resistance ( R ) gene–triggered immunity. Concurrent impairment of pre- and postinvasion resistance renders Arabidopsis a host for both nonadapted fungi.

In plant innate immunity, individual cells have the capacity to sense and respond to pathogen attack. Intracellular recognition mechanisms have evolved to intercept perturbations by pathogen virulence factors (effectors) early in host infection and convert it to rapid defense. One key to resistance success is a polymorphic family of intracellular nucleotide-binding/leucine-rich-repeat (NLR) receptors that detect effector interference in different parts of the cell. Effector-activated NLRs connect, in various ways, to a conserved basal resistance network in order to transcriptionally boost defense programs. Effector-triggered immunity displays remarkable robustness against pathogen disturbance, in part by employing compensatory mechanisms within the defense network. Also, the mobility of some NLRs and coordination of resistance pathways across cell compartments provides flexibility to fine-tune immune outputs. Furthermore, a number of NLRs function close to the nuclear chromatin by balancing actions of defense-repressing and defense-activating transcription factors to program cells dynamically for effective disease resistance.

Transposon inactivation of Arabidopsis MAP kinase 4 produced the mpk4 mutant exhibiting constitutive systemic acquired resistance (SAR) including elevated salicylic acid (SA) levels, increased resistance to virulent pathogens, and constitutive pathogenesis-related gene expression shown by Northern and microarray hybridizations. MPK4 kinase activity is required to repress SAR, as an inactive MPK4 form failed to complement mpk4. Analysis of mpk4 expressing the SA hydroxylase NahG and of mpk4/npr1 double mutants indicated that SAR expression in mpk4 is dependent upon elevated SA levels but is independent of NPR1. PDF1.2 and THI2.1 gene induction by jasmonate was blocked in mpk4 expressing NahG, suggesting that MPK4 is required for jasmonic acid-responsive gene expression.

The Arabidopsis genes EDS1 and NDR1 were shown previously by mutational analysis to encode essential components of race-specific disease resistance. Here, we examined the relative requirements for EDS1 and NDR1 by a broad spectrum of Resistance (R) genes present in three Arabidopsis accessions (Columbia, Landsberg-erecta, and Wassilewskija). We show that there is a strong requirement for EDS1 by a subset of R loci (RPP2, RPP4, RPP5, RPP21, and RPS4), conferring resistance to the biotrophic oomycete Peronospora parasitica, and to Pseudomonas bacteria expressing the avirulence gene avrRps4. The requirement for NDR1 by these EDS1-dependent R loci is either weak or not measurable. Conversely, three NDR1-dependent R loci, RPS2, RPM1, and RPS5, operate independently of EDS1. Another RPP locus, RPP8, exhibits no strong exclusive requirement for EDS1 or NDR1 in isolate-specific resistance to P. parasitica, although resistance is compromised weakly by eds1. Similarly, resistance conditioned by two EDS1-dependent RPP genes, RPP4 and RPP5, is impaired partially by ndr1, implicating a degree of pathway cross-talk. Our results provide compelling evidence for the preferential utilization of either signaling component by particular R genes and thus define at least two disease resistance pathways. The data also suggest that strong dependence on EDS1 or NDR1 is governed by R protein structural type rather than pathogen class.

Arabidopsis thaliana ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY1 (EDS1) controls defense activation and programmed cell death conditioned by intracellular Toll-related immune receptors that recognize specific pathogen effectors. EDS1 is also needed for basal resistance to invasive pathogens by restricting the progression of disease. In both responses, EDS1, assisted by its interacting partner, PHYTOALEXIN-DEFICIENT4 (PAD4), regulates accumulation of the phenolic defense molecule salicylic acid (SA) and other as yet unidentified signal intermediates. An Arabidopsis whole genome microarray experiment was designed to identify genes whose expression depends on EDS1 and PAD4, irrespective of local SA accumulation, and potential candidates of an SA-independent branch of EDS1 defense were found. We define two new immune regulators through analysis of corresponding Arabidopsis loss-of-function insertion mutants. FLAVIN-DEPENDENT MONOOXYGENASE1 (FMO1) positively regulates the EDS1 pathway, and one member (NUDT7) of a family of cytosolic Nudix hydrolases exerts negative control of EDS1 signaling. Analysis of fmo1 and nudt7 mutants alone or in combination with sid2-1, a mutation that severely depletes pathogen-induced SA production, points to SA-independent functions of FMO1 and NUDT7 in EDS1-conditioned disease resistance and cell death. We find instead that SA antagonizes initiation of cell death and stunting of growth in nudt7 mutants.

A major class of plant disease resistance (R) genes encodes leucine-rich-repeat proteins that possess a nucleotide binding site and amino-terminal similarity to the cytoplasmic domains of the Drosophila Toll and human IL-1 receptors. In Arabidopsis thaliana, EDS1 is indispensable for the function of these R genes. The EDS1 gene was cloned by targeted transposon tagging and found to encode a protein that has similarity in its amino-terminal portion to the catalytic site of eukaryotic lipases. Thus, hydrolase activity, possibly on a lipid-based substrate, is anticipated to be central to EDS1 function. The predicted EDS1 carboxyl terminus has no significant sequence homologies, although analysis of eight defective eds1 alleles reveals it to be essential for EDS1 function. Two plant defense pathways have been defined previously that depend on salicylic acid, a phenolic compound, or jasmonic acid, a lipid-derived molecule. We examined the expression of EDS1 mRNA and marker mRNAs (PR1 and PDF1.2, respectively) for these two pathways in wild-type and eds1 mutant plants after different challenges. The results suggest that EDS1 functions upstream of salicylic aciddependent PR1 mRNA accumulation and is not required for jasmonic acid-induced PDF1.2 mRNA expression.

1Cell-autonomous immunity is widespread in plant-fungus interactions and terminates fungal pathogenesis either at the cell surface or after pathogen entry. Although post-invasive resistance responses typically coincide with a self-contained cell death of plant cells undergoing attack by parasites, these cells survive pre-invasive defence. Mutational analysis in Arabidopsis identified PEN1 syntaxin as one component of two pre-invasive resistance pathways against ascomycete powdery mildew fungi 1-3 . Here we show that plasma-membrane-resident PEN1 promiscuously forms SDS-resistant soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complexes together with the SNAP33 adaptor and a subset of vesicle-associated membrane proteins (VAMPs). PEN1-dependent disease resistance acts in vivo mainly through two functionally redundant VAMP72 subfamily members, VAMP721 and VAMP722. Unexpectedly, the same two VAMP proteins also operate redundantly in a default secretory pathway, suggesting dual functions in separate biological processes owing to evolutionary co-option of the default pathway for plant immunity. The disease resistance function of the secretory PEN1-SNAP33-VAMP721/722 complex and the pathogen-induced subcellular dynamics of its components are mechanistically reminiscent of immunological synapse formation in vertebrates, enabling execution of immune responses through focal secretion.Arabidopsis is immune to non-adapted powdery mildew fungi such as Blumeria graminis and Erysiphe pisi, which in nature colonize grass and pea species, respectively. This non-host resistance requires both pre-and post-invasive immune responses, which are under separate genetic control 2 . The former response engages PEN1 syntaxin, peroxisomal PEN2 b-glycosyl hydrolase and the plasmamembrane-resident PEN3 ABC transporter 1-3 . PEN2 and PEN3 act in the same pathway and are implicated in the cytoplasmic synthesis and transport of small antimicrobial compounds across the plasma membrane at attempted fungal entry sites, respectively 2,3 . PEN1 syntaxin acts in a second pathway and could, by analogy to known syntaxin functions in yeast and animals, either participate in vesicle fusion processes 4 or modulate ion-channel activity through interactions with plasma-membrane-resident ion channels 5 . Genetic studies defy mechanistic interpretations but suggest direct or indirect PEN1 repressor activity in defence responses that are dependent on salicylic acid, as well as an overlapping function with the closely related syntaxin of plant 122 (SYP122) 6 . Compared with largely resistant PEN1 wild type and severely defence-compromised pen1-1 null mutants, plants containing the pen1-3 allele allow intermediate B. graminis entry rates, indicating residual PEN1-3 resistance activity ( Supplementary Fig. 1a). In the deduced PEN1-3 protein, a glycine residue is substituted by a glutamate in the SNARE domain 1 (Supplementary Fig. 1b). Because this mutation affects a hydrophobic residue that is thought to stabilize interactions with ...

Climatic stress and disease management The increasing frequency of debilitating heatwaves , droughts, torrential rains and other weather extremes experienced across the globe negatively affects agricultural productivity, and is projected to do so 1,13 (Fig. 1). Climatic constraints can occur independently or together (as with heat and aridity), and in either case reduce the level of productivity that is predicted for a well-managed environment (the yield potential).