Elucidating that LysM-type-receptor-mediated innate immune system is widely conserved among land plants

September 01, 2023

Contributing to understanding the origin and evolution of the plant immune system

An international collaborative research group from Tokyo University of Agriculture, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, and RIKEN CSRS identified a LysM receptor involved in the recognition of fungal and bacterial cell wall components in Marchantia polymorpha, a model moss, and revealed that PTI contributes to resistance to pathogenic microorganisms in M. polymorpha. This suggests that the LysM-type-receptor-mediated innate immune system was already established before the divergence of vascular and bryophytes, that is, at the common descent stage of land plants.

By fully using phosphoproteomics technology, the research group comprehensively discovered a protein group involved in PTI downstream of the LysM-type receptor in M. polymorpha. Among these, there were many factors whose roles in PTI are not yet determined, including the blue-light receptor phototropin. The group conducted analyses using a mutant of M. polymorpha and found that phototropin is involved in the recovery of genes induced by MAMP to a steady state. The results of the study demonstrated the conservation of the innate immune system in land plants and the existence of a phototropin-induced PTI control mechanism.

This achievement is expected to help us understand the origin, conservation, and diversity of the plant immune systems, while contributing to the development of highly universal technologies for disease resistance that can be used in many plant species.

Original article

Current Biology doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.07.068

I. Yotsui, H. Matsui, S. Miyauchi, H. Iwakawa, K. Melkonian, T. Schlüter, S. Michavila, T. Kanazawa, Y. Nomura, S. Christina S., H.-W. Jeon, Y. Yan, A. Harzen, S. S. Sugano, M. Shirakawa, R. Nishihama, Y. Ichihashi, S. G. Ibanez, K. Shirasu, T. Ueda, T. Kohchi, H. Nakagami ,

"LysM-mediated signaling in Marchantia polymorpha highlights the conservation of pattern-triggered immunity in land plants".

Contact

Ken Shirasu
Group Director
Plant Immunity Research Group