Plants communicate at a molecular level
Biologists identify a protein which recognizes Cuscuta as a parasite


Date:
October 20, 2020
Source:
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Summary:
Biologists have discovered how tomato plants identify Cuscuta
as a parasite. The plant has a protein in its cell walls that is
identified as 'foreign' by a receptor in the tomato.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Working together with researchers from the University of Tu"bingen,
the University of Tromso/, the UC Davis and the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, biologists from FAU have discovered how tomato plants identify
Cuscuta as a parasite. The plant has a protein in its cell walls that
is identified as 'foreign' by a receptor in the tomato.


========================================================================== Cuscuta spp., also known as dodder, is a parasitic vine which grafts
to the host plant using special suckers to obtain water, minerals and carbohydrates.

The parasite also attacks and damages crops such as oilseed rape,
sweetcorn, soy, flax or clover. Although the infection generally goes undetected by the host, some species of tomato actively defend themselves
by forming wooden tissue which prevents the suckers from penetrating the
plant. In earlier research, the biologists at FAU discovered that these tomatoes possess a special receptor, the Cuscuta receptor 1 (CuRe1),
which triggers the defence mechanism. However, until now it was unclear
how the receptor recognises the danger posed by the dodder.

The researchers have now succeeded in answering this question: the dodder possesses a specific marker in its cellular wall, a glycine-rich protein
(GRP).

Using its receptor CuRe1, the tomato is able to recognise the molecular
pattern of the GRP and identify the dodder as a pathogen, and triggers the immune reaction as a result. The new findings concerning the molecular
dialogue between the Cuscuta marker and the tomato receptor may help to increase the resistance of crop plants against parasitic plants.


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


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Volker Hegenauer, Peter Slaby, Max Ko"rner, Julien-Alexander
Bruckmu"ller, Ronja Burggraf, Isabell Albert, Bettina Kaiser,
Birgit Lo"ffelhardt, Irina Droste-Borel, Jan Sklenar, Frank
L. H. Menke, Boris Maček, Aashish Ranjan, Neelima Sinha,
Thorsten Nu"rnberger, Georg Felix, Kirsten Krause, Mark Stahl,
Markus Albert. The tomato receptor CuRe1 senses a cell wall protein
to identify Cuscuta as a pathogen.

Nature Communications, 2020; 11 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19147-4 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201020105524.htm

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