Protein Phosphatase 2A in the Regulatory Network Underlying Biotic Stress Resistance in Plants

Abstract

Biotic stress factors pose a major threat to plant health and can significantly deteriorate plant productivity by impairing the physiological functions of the plant. To combat the wide range of pathogens and insect herbivores, plants deploy converging signaling pathways, where counteracting activities of protein kinases and phosphatases form a basic mechanism for determining appropriate defensive measures. Recent studies have identified Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) as a crucial component that controls pathogenesis responses in various plant species. Genetic, proteomic and metabolomic approaches have underscored the versatile nature of PP2A, which contributes to the regulation of receptor signaling, organellar signaling, gene expression, metabolic pathways, and cell death, all of which essentially impact plant immunity. Associated with this, various PP2A subunits mediate post-translational regulation of metabolic enzymes and signaling components. Here we provide an overview of protein kinase/phosphatase functions in plant immunity signaling, and position the multifaceted functions of PP2A in the tightly inter-connected regulatory network that controls the perception, signaling and responding to biotic stress agents in plants.

Genome‐wide scans of selection highlight the impact of biotic and abiotic constraints in natural populations of the model grass Brachypodium distachyon

“…These results strongly indicate that positive selection is shaping rust resistance in B. distachyon natural populations, as suggested in other species (Dodds and Thrall, ; Chavan et al ., ). On chromosome 3, our analysis identified a 16‐kb region spanned by an unknown protein and a serine/threonine phosphatase, a class of genes known for their role in defense response and stress signaling (País et al ., ; Durian et al ., ), to be putatively involved in resistance to rust. The region identified on chromosome 4 is more complex, and consists of a cluster of resistance and stress signaling genes.…”

Genome-wide scans of selection highlight the impact sof biotic and abiotic constraints in natural populations of the model grassBrachypodium distachyon

“…These results strongly indicate that positive selection is shaping rust resistance in B. distachyon natural populations, as suggested in other species (Dodds & Thrall, 2009; Chavan et al , 2015). On chromosome 3, our analysis identified a 16kb region spanned by an unknown protein and a serine/threonine phosphatase, a class of genes known for their role in defense response and stress signaling (País et al 2009; Durian et al 2016), to be putatively involved in resistance to rust. The region identified on chromosome 4 is more complex and consists of a cluster of resistance and stress signaling genes.…”

Protein phosphatase 2A alleviates cadmium toxicity by modulating ethylene production in Arabidopsis thaliana

“…Because PP2A‐1A subunit was found to be involved in the regulation of ethylene biosynthesis (Durian, Rahikainen, Alegre, Brosche, & Kangasjarvi, ) and Cd stress can induce the production of ethylene (Schellingen et al, ), we determined the production of ethylene in the wild‐type and mutant plants in response to Cd treatment. In the absence of Cd, ethylene production was very low with no significant differences between Col‐0, cdsr1 , cad1‐3 , and cdsr1 cad1‐3 (Figure 5a).…”

“…Because PP2A-1A subunit was found to be involved in the regulation of ethylene biosynthesis (Durian, Rahikainen, Alegre, Brosche, & Kangasjarvi, 2016) and Cd stress can induce the production of ethylene (Schellingen et al, 2014), we determined the production of ethylene in the wild-type and mutant plants in response to Cd treatment.…”