Plants can recognize pathogens through the action of disease resistance (R) genes, which confer resistance to pathogens expressing unique corresponding avirulence (avr) genes. The molecular basis of this gene-for-gene specificity is unknown. The Arabidopsis thaliana RPM1 gene enables dual specificity to pathogens expressing either of two unrelated Pseudomonas syringae avr genes. Despite this function, RPM1 encodes a protein sharing molecular features with recently described single-specificity R genes. Surprisingly, RPM1 is lacking from naturally occurring, disease-susceptible Arabidopsis accessions.

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Plant disease-resistance (R) proteins are thought to function as receptors for ligands produced directly or indirectly by pathogen avirulence (Avr) proteins. The biochemical functions of most Avr proteins are unknown, and the mechanisms by which they activate R proteins have not been determined. In Arabidopsis, resistance to Pseudomonas syringae strains expressing AvrPphB requires RPS5, a member of the class of R proteins that have a predicted nucleotide-binding site and leucine-rich repeats, and PBS1, a protein kinase. AvrPphB was found to proteolytically cleave PBS1, and this cleavage was required for RPS5-mediated resistance, which indicates that AvrPphB is detected indirectly via its enzymatic activity.

Plant proteins belonging to the nucleotide-binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) family are used for pathogen detection. Like the mammalian Nod-LRR protein 'sensors' that detect intracellular conserved pathogen-associated molecular patterns, plant NBS-LRR proteins detect pathogen-associated proteins, most often the effector molecules of pathogens responsible for virulence. Many virulence proteins are detected indirectly by plant NBS-LRR proteins from modifications the virulence proteins inflict on host target proteins. However, some NBS-LRR proteins directly bind pathogen proteins. Association with either a modified host protein or a pathogen protein leads to conformational changes in the amino-terminal and LRR domains of plant NBS-LRR proteins. Such conformational alterations are thought to promote the exchange of ADP for ATP by the NBS domain, which activates 'downstream' signaling, by an unknown mechanism, leading to pathogen resistance.Plants lack the adaptive immunity that vertebrates rely on to respond to pathogens. To successfully detect and ward off pathogens, plants must rely solely on genes stably encoded in the genome. Although the exact mechanisms of pathogen detection differ, plants, like animals, use two distinct defense 'systems' to recognize and respond to pathogen challenge 1 . Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), such as bacterial flagellin, lipopolysaccharides and fungal-oomycete cellulose-binding elicitor proteins, are recognized by plant transmembrane receptors that activate basal defense, a first line of defense against pathogens that is reminiscent of innate immunity in vertebrates 2, 3. In both plants and animals, it is hypothesized that a biological 'arms race' is occurring, in which pathogens have acquired mechanisms to evade PAMP-triggered immunity by evolving effector molecules that modify the state of the host cell, thereby bypassing or disrupting the first line of defense. Plant evolution has countered with proteins that detect specific effector molecules, a mechanism called 'effector-triggered immunity'1 that amounts to a second line of defense. Plant effector-triggered immunity is more akin to mammalian adaptive immunity in that pathogen effectors, rather than conserved elements such as PAMPs, are specifically recognized. However, unlike the situation in mammalian adaptive immunity, the plant host specificity determinants of effector-triggered immunity are encoded in every cell of an organism.The genes encoding the specificity determinants of effector-triggered immunity are known as resistance (R) genes. Most R genes encode proteins that contain a nucleotide-binding site (NBS) and leucine-rich repeats (LRRs). NBS-LRR proteins are involved in the recognition of specialized pathogen effectors (also called avirulence (Avr) proteins) that are thought to provide virulence function in the absence of the cognate R gene 1 . NBS-LRR proteins are also important in animal innate immune systems; however, in animals they seem to be involved in PAMP recognition rather th...

Nucleotide binding site-leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) proteins mediate pathogen recognition in both mammals and plants. The molecular mechanisms by which pathogen molecules activate NBS-LRR proteins are poorly understood. Here we show that RPS5, a NBS-LRR protein from Arabidopsis, is activated by AvrPphB, a bacterial protease, via an indirect mechanism. When transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves, full-length RPS5 protein triggered programmed cell death, but only when coexpressed with AvrPphB and a second Arabidopsis protein, PBS1, which is a specific substrate of AvrPphB. Using coimmunoprecipitation analysis, we found that PBS1 is in a complex with the N-terminal coiled coil (CC) domain of RPS5 before exposure to AvrPphB. Deletion of the RPS5 LRR domain caused RPS5 to constitutively activate programmed cell death, even in the absence of AvrPphB and PBS1, and this activation depended on both the CC and NBS domains. The LRR and CC domains both coimmunoprecipitate with the NBS domain but not with each other. Thus, the LRR domain appears to function in part to inhibit RPS5 signaling, and cleavage of PBS1 by AvrPphB appears to release RPS5 from this inhibition. An amino acid substitution in the NBS site of RPS5 that is known to inhibit ATP binding in other NBS-LRR proteins blocked activation of RPS5, whereas a substitution thought to inhibit ATP hydrolysis constitutively activated RPS5. Combined, these data suggest that ATP versus ADP binding functions as a molecular switch that is flipped by cleavage of PBS1.B oth plants and animals employ nucleotide binding siteleucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) proteins to mediate detection of pathogen molecules (1). There appear to be at least two distinct mechanisms by which NBS-LRR proteins detect pathogens: either by binding pathogen-derived molecules directly or by sensing the modification of host proteins by pathogen-derived molecules (2). It is presently unclear how either mechanism causes activation of signaling by NBS-LRR proteins. We have been investigating these processes by using the plant NBS-LRR protein RPS5, which mediates detection of the protease AvrPphB from the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae (3-6).In plants, NBS-LRR proteins were first identified as the products of classically defined disease-resistance genes (R genes) (7-9), which are genes that confer resistance to infection by specific pathogen strains. R gene-mediated resistance is typically manifested by activation of a programmed cell death response referred to as the hypersensitive response (HR) that is localized to the site of pathogen ingress (10). In the last decade, R genes have been cloned from a large range of plant species, with the majority being found to encode NBS-LRR proteins (11). Plant NBS-LRR proteins can be subdivided into two broad categories defined by the presence of a Toll-interleukin receptor (TIR) domain or a non-TIR domain, most often a coiled-coil (CC) domain, at the amino terminus. The function of the CC and TIR domains in pathogen perception and signaling is un...

A Yersinia effector known as YopT and a Pseudomonas avirulence protein known as AvrPphB define a family of 19 proteins involved in bacterial pathogenesis. We show that both YopT and AvrPphB are cysteine proteases, and their proteolytic activities are dependent upon the invariant C/H/D residues conserved in the entire YopT family. YopT cleaves the posttranslationally modified Rho GTPases near their carboxyl termini, releasing them from the membrane. This leads to the disruption of actin cytoskeleton in host cells. The proteolytic activity of AvrPphB is essential for autoproteolytic cleavage of an AvrPphB precursor as well as for eliciting the hypersensitive response in plants. These findings provide new insights into mechanisms of animal and plant pathogenesis.

The enhanced disease resistance 1 (edr1) mutation of Arabidopsis confers resistance to powdery mildew disease caused by the fungus Erysiphe cichoracearum. Resistance mediated by the edr1 mutation is correlated with induction of several defense responses, including host cell death. Double mutant analysis revealed that all edr1-associated phenotypes are suppressed by mutations that block salicylic acid (SA) perception (nim1) or reduce SA production (pad4 and eds1). The NahG transgene, which lowers endogenous SA levels, also suppressed edr1. In contrast, the ein2 mutation did not suppress edr1-mediated resistance and associated phenotypes, indicating that ethylene and jasmonic acid-induced responses are not required for edr1 resistance. The EDR1 gene was isolated by positional cloning and was found to encode a putative MAP kinase kinase kinase similar to CTR1, a negative regulator of ethylene responses in Arabidopsis. Taken together, these data suggest that EDR1 functions at the top of a MAP kinase cascade that negatively regulates SA-inducible defense responses. Putative orthologs of EDR1 are present in monocots such as rice and barley, indicating that EDR1 may regulate defense responses in a wide range of crop species. P lants defend themselves against infectious diseases by using both preformed and induced defenses. The latter comprise a complex suite of physiological changes, including a form of programmed cell death called the hypersensitive resistance response (HR) (1). In an effort to identify plant genes that regulate defense responses, we screened for Arabidopsis mutants that displayed enhanced resistance to normally virulent pathogens. The edr1 mutant was identified in a screen for mutants that had become resistant to the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae and was subsequently shown to be resistant to Erysiphe cichoracearum (powdery mildew) (2). Significantly, edr1 mutant plants do not display constitutive expression of the defense gene PR-1, indicating that resistance is not caused by constitutive activation of systemic acquired resistance-associated defenses (3).Although known defense responses are not constitutively expressed in edr1 plants, several defense responses are induced by E. cichoracearum more rapidly in edr1 plants than in wild-type Arabidopsis variety Col-0 (2). These include deposition of autofluorescent compounds and callose [a ␤-(133) glucan] in mesophyll cell walls, accumulation of PR-1 mRNA, and mesophyll cell death. In wild-type Col-0 plants infected with E. cichoracearum, these defenses are induced more slowly, and very little cell death is observed (2, 4). Because the edr1 mutation is recessive, the EDR1 gene appears to function as a negative regulator. Because these defenses are not expressed in edr1 plants in the absence of pathogens, however, there must be pathogen-associated signals required to induce these defenses. In the absence of EDR1 function, even presumably weak signals from virulent Erysiphe strains are sufficient to induce strong responses.Because the edr1 mutant appears p...