Key immune system protein discovered in plants

Date:
August 26, 2020
Source:
University of Maryland
Summary:
A new study has discovered the key calcium channel responsible for
closing plant pores as an immune response to pathogen exposure. The
findings are a major step toward understanding the defense
mechanisms plants use to resist infection, which could eventually
lead to healthier, more resistant and more productive crops.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Plants have a unique ability to safeguard themselves against pathogens by closing their pores -- but until now, no one knew quite how they did it.

Scientists have known that a flood of calcium into the cells surrounding
the pores triggers them to close, but how the calcium entered the cells
was unclear.


==========================================================================
A new study by an international team including University of Maryland scientists reveals that a protein called OSCA1.3 forms a channel that
leaks calcium into the cells surrounding a plant's pores, and they
determined that a known immune system protein triggers the process.

The findings are a major step toward understanding the defense mechanisms plants use to resist infection, which could eventually lead to healthier,
more resistant and more productive crops. The research paper was published
on August 26, 2020 in the journal Nature.

"This is a major advance, because a substantial part of the world's
food generated by agriculture is lost to pathogens, and we now know the molecular mechanism behind one of the first and most relevant signals for
plant immune response to pathogens -- the calcium burst after infection,"
said Jose' Feijo', a professor of cell biology and molecular genetics
at UMD and co-author of the study. "Finding the mechanism associated
with this calcium channel allows further research into its regulation,
which will improve our understanding of the way in which the channel
activity modulates and, eventually, boosts the immune reaction of plants
to pathogens." Plant pores -- called stomata -- are encircled by two
guard cells, which respond to calcium signals that tell the cells to
expand or contract and trigger innate immune signals, initiating the
plant's defense response. Because calcium cannot pass directly through
the guard cell membranes, scientists knew a calcium channel had to be
at work. But they didn't know which protein acted as the calcium channel.

To find this protein, the study's lead author, Cyril Zipfel, a professor
of molecular and cellular plant physiology at the University of Zurich
and Senior Group Leader at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, searched
for proteins that would be modified by another protein named BIK1,
which genetic studies and bioassays identified as a necessary component
of the immune calcium response in plants.

When exposed to BIK1, one protein called OSCA1.3 transformed in a
very specific way that suggested it could be a calcium channel for
plants. OSCA1.3 is a member of a widespread family of proteins known to
exist as ion channels in many organisms, including humans, and it seems
to be specifically activated upon detection of pathogens.

To determine if OSCA1.3 was, in fact, the calcium channel they were
looking for, Zipfel's team reached out to Feijo', who is well known for identifying and characterizing novel ion channels and signaling mechanisms
in plants. Erwan Michard, a visiting assistant research scientist in
Feijo''s lab and co-author of the paper, conducted experiments that
revealed BIK1 triggers OSCA1.3 to open up a calcium channel into a cell
and also explained the mechanism for how it happens.

BIK1 only activates when a plant gets infected with a pathogen, which
suggests that OSCA1.3 opens a calcium channel to close stomata as a
defensive, immune system response to pathogens.

"This is a perfect example of how a collaborative effort between labs with different expertise can bring about important conclusions that would be difficult on solo efforts," Feijo', said. "This fundamental knowledge
is badly needed to inform ecology and agriculture on how the biome
will react to the climatic changes that our planet is going through."
Feijo', will now incorporate this new knowledge of the OSCA1.3 calcium
channel into other areas of research in his lab, which is working to
understand how the mineral calcium was co-opted through evolution by all
living organisms to serve as a signaling device for information about
stressors from infection to climate change.

"Despite the physiological and ecological relevance of stomatal closure,
the identity of some of the key components mediating this closure were
still unknown," Zipfel said. "The identification of OSCA1.3 now fills
one of these important gaps. In the context of plant immunity this work
is particularly apt in 2020, the UN International Year of Plant Health."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Maryland. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Kathrin Thor, Shushu Jiang, Erwan Michard, Jeoffrey George, So"nke
Scherzer, Shouguang Huang, Julian Dindas, Paul Derbyshire, Nuno
Leita~o, Thomas A. DeFalco, Philipp Ko"ster, Kerri Hunter, Sachie
Kimura, Julien Gronnier, Lena Stransfeld, Yasuhiro Kadota, Christoph
A. Bu"cherl, Myriam Charpentier, Michael Wrzaczek, Daniel MacLean,
Giles E. D. Oldroyd, Frank L. H. Menke, M. Rob G. Roelfsema,
Rainer Hedrich, Jose' Feijo', Cyril Zipfel. The calcium-permeable
channel OSCA1.3 regulates plant stomatal immunity. Nature, 2020;
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2702-1 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200826141358.htm

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