The tomato receptor CuRe1 senses a cell wall protein to identify Cuscuta as a pathogen

Hegenauer V, Slaby P, Körner M, Bruckmueller JA, Burggraf R, Albert I, Kaiser B, Loeffelhardt B, Droste-Borel I, Sklenar J, Menke FLH, Macek B, Ranjan A, Sinha N, Nuernberger T, Felix G, Krause K, Stahl M, Albert M (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Nature Communications Nature Publishing Group: Nature Communications

Book Volume: 11

Article Number: 5299

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19147-4

Abstract

Parasitic plants of the genus Cuscuta penetrate shoots of host plants with haustoria and build a connection to the host vasculature to exhaust water, solutes and carbohydrates. Such infections usually stay unrecognized by the host and lead to harmful host plant damage. Here, we show a molecular mechanism of how plants can sense parasitic Cuscuta. We isolated an 11 kDa protein of the parasite cell wall and identified it as a glycine-rich protein (GRP). This GRP, as well as its minimal peptide epitope Crip21, serve as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern and specifically bind and activate a membrane-bound immune receptor of tomato, the Cuscuta Receptor 1 (CuRe1), leading to defense responses in resistant hosts. These findings provide the initial steps to understand the resistance mechanisms against parasitic plants and further offer great potential for protecting crops by engineering resistance against parasitic plants.

Authors with CRIS profile

Peter Slaby Lehrstuhl für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie Max Körner Lehrstuhl für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie Isabell Albert Department Biologie Markus Albert Lehrstuhl für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie

Involved external institutions

University of California Davis (UCDAVIS) US United States (USA) (US) Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen DE Germany (DE) University of East Anglia GB United Kingdom (GB) Universitetet i Tromsø / The Arctic University of Norway (UiT) NO Norway (NO)

How to cite

APA:

Hegenauer, V., Slaby, P., Körner, M., Bruckmueller, J.-A., Burggraf, R., Albert, I.,... Albert, M. (2020). The tomato receptor CuRe1 senses a cell wall protein to identify Cuscuta as a pathogen. Nature Communications, 11(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19147-4

MLA:

Hegenauer, Volker, et al. "The tomato receptor CuRe1 senses a cell wall protein to identify Cuscuta as a pathogen." Nature Communications 11.1 (2020).

BibTeX: Download