Abstract
Main conclusion
A maize receptor kinase controls defense response to fungal pathogens by regulating jasmonic acid and antimicrobial phytoalexin production.
Abstract
Plants use a range of pattern recognition receptors to detect and respond to biotic threats. Some of these receptors contain leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domains that recognize microbial proteins or peptides. Maize (Zea mays) has 226 LRR-receptor like kinases, making it challenging to identify those important for pathogen recognition. In this study, co-expression analysis with genes for jasmonic acid and phytoalexin biosynthesis was used to identify a fungal induced-receptor like protein kinase (FI-RLPK) likely involved in the response to fungal pathogens. Loss-of-function mutants in fi-rlpk displayed enhanced susceptibility to the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus and reduced accumulation of jasmonic acid and the anti-microbial phytoalexins -kauralexins and zealexins- in infected tissues. In contrast, fi-rlpk mutants displayed increased resistance to stem inoculation with the hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum. These data indicate that FI-RLPK is important for fungal recognition and activation of defenses, and that F. graminearum may be able to exploit FI-RLPK function to increase its virulence.
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Data availability
All data are available upon request from the corresponding author.
Abbreviations
- An2:
-
Anther ear 2
- BAK1:
-
Brassinosteroid insensitive 1-associated receptor kinase 1
- FI-RLPK:
-
Fungal induced-receptor like protein kinase
- LRR:
-
Leucine rich repeat
- PRR:
-
Pattern-recognition receptor
- RLK:
-
Receptor-like kinase
- TPS6:
-
Terpene synthase 6
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Agricultural Research Service Project number 6036-11210-001-00D to A.B. and S.C., and the USDA- National Institute of Food and Agriculture-Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant 2018-51181-28419 to A.B. and L.d.T. The use of trade name, commercial product or corporation in this publication is for the information and convenience of the reader and does not imply an official recommendation, endorsement or approval by the USDA or the Agricultural Research Service for any product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. The authors declare no conflicts of interest with this study.
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Communicated by Dorothea Bartels.
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Block, A.K., Tang, H.V., Hopkins, D. et al. A maize leucine-rich repeat receptor-like protein kinase mediates responses to fungal attack. Planta 254, 73 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-021-03730-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-021-03730-0