[Chih-Hang Wu] How does the evolution of immune receptors shape plant defense systems?
POST:
Subfunctionalization of NRC immune receptors increases the complexity of plant immune systems.
Nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat (NLR) proteins function as immune receptors and play a crucial role in the immune systems of both animals and plants. In solanaceous plants, some sensor NLR immune receptors activate their helper NLR immune receptors (NRC) to form resistosome complexes after recognizing pathogens, thereby initiating immune responses. Although sensor NLRs and downstream helper NLRs form a complex immune network, it remains unclear how plants evolved this complex immune system. Our study shows that the NRC3 in solanaceous plants underwent subfunctionalization after the divergence of the Solanum and Nicotiana genera, altering the genetic architecture of the NRC network in tobacco. Our research reveals how mutations in the NRC genes of solanaceous plants lead to subfunctionalization, changing the specificity between sensor NLR immune receptors and their helper NLR immune receptors, thus increasing the complexity of the NRC immune receptor network.
The co-first authors of this work are research assistants Ching-Yi Huang and Yu-Seng Huang.