I.II.III.IV.V.VI.VII.References Summary Infection by phytopathogenic bacteria triggers massive changes in plant gene expression, which are thought to be mostly a result of transcriptional reprogramming. However, evidence is accumulating that plants additionally use post‐transcriptional regulation of immune‐responsive mRNAs as a strategic weapon to shape the defense‐related transcriptome. Cellular RNA‐binding proteins regulate RNA stability, splicing or mRNA export of immune‐response transcripts. In particular, mutants defective in alternative splicing of resistance genes exhibit compromised disease resistance. Furthermore, detection of bacterial pathogens induces the differential expression of small non‐coding RNAs including microRNAs that impact the host defense transcriptome. Phytopathogenic bacteria in turn have evolved effector proteins to inhibit biogenesis and/or activity of cellular microRNAs. Whereas RNA silencing has long been known as an antiviral defense response, recent findings also reveal a major role of this process in antibacterial defense. Here we review the function of RNA‐binding proteins and small RNA‐directed post‐transcriptional regulation in antibacterial defense. We mainly focus on studies that used the model system Arabidopsis thaliana and also discuss selected examples from other plants.

The hnRNP-like glycine-rich RNA-binding protein AtGRP7 regulates pre-mRNA splicing in Arabidopsis. Here we used small RNA-seq to show that AtGRP7 also affects the miRNA inventory. AtGRP7 overexpression caused a significant reduction in the level of 30 miRNAs and an increase for 14 miRNAs with a minimum log2 fold change of ±0.5. Overaccumulation of several pri-miRNAs including pri-miR398b, pri-miR398c, pri-miR172b, pri-miR159a and pri-miR390 at the expense of the mature miRNAs suggested that AtGRP7 affects pri-miRNA processing. Indeed, RNA immunoprecipitation revealed that AtGRP7 interacts with these pri-miRNAs in vivo. Mutation of an arginine in the RNA recognition motif abrogated in vivo binding and the effect on miRNA and pri-miRNA levels, indicating that AtGRP7 inhibits processing of these pri-miRNAs by direct binding. In contrast, pri-miRNAs of selected miRNAs that were elevated or not changed in response to high AtGRP7 levels were not bound in vivo. Reduced accumulation of miR390, an initiator of trans-acting small interfering RNA (ta-siRNA) formation, also led to lower TAS3 ta-siRNA levels and increased mRNA expression of the target AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR4. Furthermore, AtGRP7 affected splicing of pri-miR172b and pri-miR162a. Thus, AtGRP7 is an hnRNP-like protein with a role in processing of pri-miRNAs in addition to its role in pre-mRNA splicing.

Labeling internal structures within living cells with standard fluorescent probes is a challenging problem. Here, we introduce a novel intracellular staining method that enables us to carefully control the labeling process and provides instant access to the inner structures of living cells. Using a hollow glass capillary with a diameter of <100 nm, we deliver functionalized fluorescent probes directly into the cells by (di)electrophoretic forces. The label density can be adjusted and traced directly during the staining process by fluorescence microscopy. We demonstrate the potential of this technique by delivering and imaging a range of commercially available cell-permeable and nonpermeable fluorescent probes to cells.

Fluorescent reporter proteins that allow repeated switching between a fluorescent and a non-fluorescent state are novel tools for monitoring intracellular protein trafficking. A codon-optimized variant of the reversibly photoswitchable fluorescent protein DRONPA was designed for the use in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Its codon usage is also well adapted to the mammalian codon usage. The synthetic protein, DRONPA-s, shows photochemical properties and switching behavior comparable to that of the original DRONPA from Pectiniidae both in vitro and in vivo. DRONPA-s fused to the RNA-binding protein AtGRP7 (Arabidopsis thaliana glycine-rich RNA-binding protein 7) under control of the endogenous AtGRP7 promoter localizes to cytoplasm, nucleoplasm and nucleolus of transgenic Arabidopsis plants. To monitor the intracellular transport dynamics of AtGRP7-DRONPA-s, we set up a single-molecule sensitive confocal fluorescence microscope. Fluorescence recovery after selective photoswitching experiments revealed that AtGRP7-DRONPA-s reaches the nucleus by carrier-mediated transport. Furthermore, photoactivation experiments showed that AtGRP7-DRONPA-s is exported from the nucleus. Thus, AtGRP7 is a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein. Our results show that the fluorescent marker DRONPA-s is a versatile tool to track protein transport dynamics in stably transformed plants.

By alternative use of four RSL (reactive site loop) coding exon cassettes, the serpin (serine protease inhibitor) gene Spn4 from Drosophila melanogaster was proposed to enable the synthesis of multiple protease inhibitor isoforms, one of which has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of human furin. Here, we have investigated the inhibitory spectrum of all Spn4 RSL variants. The analyses indicate that the Spn4 gene encodes inhibitors that may inhibit serine proteases of the subtilase family (S8), the chymotrypsin family (S1), and the papain-like cysteine protease family (C1), most of them at high rates. Thus a cohort of different protease inhibitors is generated simply by grafting enzyme-adapted RSL sequences on to a single serpin scaffold, even though the target proteases contain different types and/or a varying order of catalytic residues and are descendents of different phylogenetic lineages. Since all of the Spn4 RSL isoforms are produced as intracellular residents and additionally as variants destined for export or associated with the secretory pathway, the Spn4 gene represents a versatile defence tool kit that may provide multiple antiproteolytic functions.