ER-mediated control for abundance, quality, and signaling of transmembrane immune receptors in plants

Abstract

Plants recognize a wide range of microbes with cell-surface and intracellular immune receptors. Transmembrane pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) initiate immune responses upon recognition of cognate ligands characteristic of microbes or aberrant cellular states, designated microbe-associated molecular patterns or danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), respectively.Pattern-triggered immunity provides a first line of defense that restricts the invasion and propagation of both adapted and non-adapted pathogens. Receptor kinases (RKs) and receptor-like proteins (RLPs) with an extracellular leucine-rich repeat or lysine-motif (LysM) domain are extensively used as PRRs. The correct folding of the extracellular domain of these receptors is under quality control (QC) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which thus provides a critical step in plant immunity. Genetic and structural insight suggests that ERQC regulates not only the abundance and quality of transmembrane receptors but also affects signal sorting between multi-branched pathways downstream of the receptor. However, ERQC dysfunction can also positively stimulate plant immunity, possibly through cell death and DAMP signaling pathways.

Keywords: ER stress; ERQC; LRR/LysM; MAMP/DAMP; immune receptor.

FIGURE 1

A model for ER-mediated control of PRR biogenesis and signaling. In weakly dysfunctional alleles of ERQC components (right), folding defects of the extracellular domain of PRRs might affect stable accumulation at the plasma membrane (PM), subcellular trafficking, assembly of pre- and post-recognition complexes, or combinations thereof. Importantly, this can selectively impair a subset of diverse signaling outputs downstream of the receptor.