Posttranslational Modifications in Plant Disease Resistance

Abstract

Under constant attack from an ever‐evolving array of pathogens, the multilayered plant immune system provides a broad‐spectrum resistance that is the result of millions of years of coevolution of plants and microorganisms. Driving the arms race for survival is the continual diversification of defence and attack mechanisms. This process can be rapidly and efficiently achieved by posttranslational modifications (PTMs). Phosphorylation and ubiquitination are important PTMs involved in plant immune signalling that are exploited by pathogens and plants alike. Identified connections between the two PTMs have been shown to either positively or negatively regulate each other, affecting the activity of a growing number of immune proteins. In various instances, this crosstalk has been shown to link the two alleged levels of innate plant immunity: PAMP‐triggered immunity (PTI) and effector‐triggered immunity (ETI). Understanding how this occurs will lead us to unravel the web that is the plant immune signalling interactome. Key Concepts Natural selection drives the diversification of pathogen virulence and plant resistance mechanisms. Posttranslational modifications are essential for providing rapid and efficient diversification of defence and attack proteins. Phosphorylation and ubiquitination are important posttranslational modifications involved in plant immune signalling. Crosstalk between ubiquitination and phosphorylation regulates plant immune signalling. Crosstalk between ubiquitination and phosphorylation can link different levels of the plant immune system.

Exploiting protein modification systems to boost crop productivity: SUMO proteases in focus

“…Many key transcriptional regulators including DREB2, ICE1 (controlling cold, heat, salt, and drought stress), NPR1 (regulator of salicylic acid responses), and ABI5 (regulator of abscisic acid responses) have been shown to undergo these PTMs in order to be effective in promoting plant stress adaptation ( Miura et al , 2009 ; Miura and Hasegawa, 2010 ; Saleh et al , 2015 ), and PTMs have also been shown to be influential in countering biotic stresses ( Casey et al , 2017 ). PTMs are also relevant to agronomically important alleles.…”