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Review
. 2021 Feb;229(3):1215-1233.
doi: 10.1111/nph.16947. Epub 2020 Oct 25.

Genetics of autoimmunity in plants: an evolutionary genetics perspective

Wei-Lin Wan  1 , Sang-Tae Kim  2 , Baptiste Castel  1 , Nuri Charoennit  1 , Eunyoung Chae  1
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Genetics of autoimmunity in plants: an evolutionary genetics perspective

Wei-Lin Wan et al. New Phytol. 2021 Feb.
Free article

Erratum in

  • Corrigendum.
    Wan WL, Kim ST, Castel B, Charoennit N, Chae E. Wan WL, et al. New Phytol. 2021 Aug;231(3):1296. doi: 10.1111/nph.17309. Epub 2021 May 27. New Phytol. 2021. PMID: 34041762 No abstract available.

Abstract

Autoimmunity in plants has been found in numerous hybrids as a form of hybrid necrosis and mutant panels. Uncontrolled cell death is a main cellular outcome of autoimmunity, which negatively impacts growth. Its occurrence highlights the vulnerable nature of the plant immune system. Genetic investigation of autoimmunity in hybrid plants revealed that extreme variation in the immune receptor repertoire is a major contributor, reflecting an evolutionary conundrum that plants face in nature. In this review, we discuss natural variation in the plant immune system and its contribution to fitness. The value of autoimmunity genetics lies in its ability to identify combinations of a natural immune receptor and its partner that are predisposed to triggering autoimmunity. The network of immune components for autoimmunity becomes instrumental in revealing mechanistic details of how immune receptors recognize cellular invasion and activate signaling. The list of autoimmunity-risk variants also allows us to infer evolutionary processes contributing to their maintenance in the natural population. Our approach to autoimmunity, which integrates mechanistic understanding and evolutionary genetics, has the potential to serve as a prognosis tool to optimize immunity in crops.

Keywords: NLR; autoimmunity; cell death; epistasis; genetic incompatibility; guardee; hybrid necrosis; plant immunity.

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References

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