Plant innate immunity relies in first place on the detection of invading microbes. Thus, plants evolved receptors to sense unique molecules of the microbe, the so called microbe-associated molecular patterns or MAMPs. The best studied fungal MAMP is chitin, an important structural building block of the fungal cell wall. Over the past years several plant receptors for chitin have been characterized as well as different strategies adopted by fungi to evade chitin recognition. Despite its strong activity as an elicitor of plant defense chitin represents only a small percentage of the cell wall of most fungi compared to other complex sugars. β-glucan, the most abundant fungal cell wall polysaccharide, also serves as a MAMP, but the mechanisms of β-glucan perception and signaling in plants are largely unknown. In contrast to that the β-glucan recognition and signaling machineries are well characterized in mammals. The C-type lectin receptor Dectin-1 is a key component of these machineries. In this review we describe valuable knowledge about the existence of at least one β-glucan receptor in plants and about the hindrances in β-glucan research. Additionally we discuss possible future perspectives of glucan research and the possibility to transfer the gathered knowledge from mammalian systems to plants.

β-glucans are well-known modulators of the immune system in mammals but little is known about β-glucan triggered immunity in planta. Here we show by isothermal titration calorimetry, circular dichroism spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy that the FGB1 gene from the root endophyte Piriformospora indica encodes for a secreted fungal-specific β-glucan-binding lectin with dual function. This lectin has the potential to both alter fungal cell wall composition and properties, and to efficiently suppress β-glucan-triggered immunity in different plant hosts, such as Arabidopsis, barley and Nicotiana benthamiana. Our results hint at the existence of fungal effectors that deregulate innate sensing of β-glucan in plants.

Mutualistic interactions between plants and fungi often occur in the rhizosphere, although examples exist where shoot-endophytes support host growth and increase resistance to pathogens and herbivores. Fungal endophytes which colonize their hosts without any visible disease symptoms have been recognized to be fundamental components of various ecosystems. Initial efforts have been taken to decipher the genetic basis of beneficial plant-fungus interactions and of lifestyle transitions. This review gives a short overview on well established experimental systems amenable to genetic manipulation and of known genome sequence for dissecting plant-fungal endophyte interactions with a special focus on Arabidopsis thaliana associations.

Summary In the root endophyte Serendipita indica, several lectin‐like members of the expanded multigene family of WSC proteins are transcriptionally induced in planta and are potentially involved in β‐glucan remodeling at the fungal cell wall. Using biochemical and cytological approaches we show that one of these lectins, SiWSC3 with three WSC domains, is an integral fungal cell wall component that binds to long‐chain β1‐3‐glucan but has no affinity for shorter β1‐3‐ or β1‐6‐linked glucose oligomers. Comparative analysis with the previously identified β‐glucan‐binding lectin SiFGB1 demonstrated that whereas SiWSC3 does not require β1‐6‐linked glucose for efficient binding to branched β1‐3‐glucan, SiFGB1 does. In contrast to SiFGB1, the multivalent SiWSC3 lectin can efficiently agglutinate fungal cells and is additionally induced during fungus–fungus confrontation, suggesting different functions for these two β‐glucan‐binding lectins. Our results highlight the importance of the β‐glucan cell wall component in plant–fungus interactions and the potential of β‐glucan‐binding lectins as specific detection tools for fungi in vivo.