Structural analysis of receptor-like kinase SOBIR1 reveals mechanisms that regulate its phosphorylation-dependent activation

Plant leucine-rich repeat(LRR)receptor-like kinases(RLKs)and LRR receptor-like proteins(RLPs)comprise a large family of cell surface receptors that play critical roles in signal perception and transduction.Both LRR-RLKs and LRR-RLPs rely on regulatory LRR-RLKs to initiate downstream signaling pathways.BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE 1-ASSOCIATED KINASE 1/SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR KINASE 3(BAK1/SERK3)and SUPPRESSOR OF BIR1-1(SOBIR1)are important and extensively studied regulatory LRR-RLKs with distinct functions.Although the regulatory mechanism of BAK1 activation has been studied in detail,the activation mechanism of SOBIR1 remains poorly understood.Here,the crystal structures of the catalytically inactive kinase domain of SOBIR1(SOBIR1-KD)from Arabidopsis thaliana were determined in complexes with AMP-PNP and Mg^(2+).The results show that SOBIR1-KD contains a uniquely long β3-αC loop and adopts an Src-like inactive conformation with an unusual architecture at the activation segment,which comprises three helices.Biochemical studies revealed that SOBIR1 is transphosphorylated by BAK1 following its autophosphorylation via an intermolecular mechanism,and the phosphorylation of Thr529 in the activation segment and the β3-αC loop are critical for SOBIR1 phosphorylation.Further functional analysis confirmed the importance of Thr529 and the β3-αC loop for the SOBIR1-induced cell death response in Nicotiana benthamiana.Taken together,these findings provide a structural basis for the regulatory mechanism of SOBIR1 and reveal the important elements and phosphorylation events in the special stepwise activation of SOBIR1-KD,the first such processes found in regulatory LRR-RLKs.

Membrane Trafficking in Plant Immunity

Plants employ sophisticated mechanisms to interact with pathogenic as well as beneficial microbes. Of those, membrane trafficking is key in establishing a rapid and precise response. Upon interaction with pathogenic microbes, surface-localized immune receptors undergo endocytosis for signal transduction and activity regulation while cell wall components, antimicrobial compounds, and defense proteins are delivered to pathogen invasion sites through polarized secretion. To sustain mutualistic associations, host cells also reprogram the membrane trafficking system to accommodate invasive structures of symbi- otic microbes. Here, we provide an analysis of recent advances in understanding the roles of secretory and endocytic membrane trafficking pathways in plant immune activation. We also discuss strategies deployed by adapted microbes to manipulate these pathways to subvert or inhibit plant defense.

A karyopherin constrains nuclear activity of the NLR protein SNC1 and is essential to prevent autoimmunity in Arabidopsis

The nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat(NLR)proteins comprise a major class of intracellular immune receptors that are capable of detecting pathogen-derived molecules and activating immunity and cell death in plants.The activity of some NLRs,particularly the Toll-like/interleukin-1 receptor(TIR)type,is highly correlated with their nucleocytoplasmic distribution.However,whether and how the nucleocytoplasmic homeostasis of NLRs is coordinated through a bidirectional nuclear shuttling mechanism remains unclear.Here,we identified a nuclear transport receptor,KA120,which is capable of affecting the nucleocytoplasmic distribution of an NLR protein and is essential in preventing its autoactivation.We showed that the ka120 mutant displays an autoimmune phenotype and NLR-induced transcriptome features.Through a targeted genetic screen using an artificial NLR microRNA library,we identified the TIR-NLR gene SNC1 as a genetic interactor of KA120.Loss-of-function snc1 mutations as well as compromising SNC1 protein activities all substantially suppressed ka120-induced autoimmune activation,and the enhanced SNC1 activity upon loss of KA120 functionappeared to occur at the protein level.Overexpression of KA120 efficiently repressed SNC1 activity and led to a nearly complete suppression of the autoimmune phenotype caused by the gain-of-function snc1-1 mutation or SNC1 overexpression in transgenic plants.Further florescence imaging analysis indicated that SNC1 undergoes altered nucleocytoplasmic distribution with significantly reduced nuclear signal when KA120 is constitutively expressed,supporting a role of KA120 in coordinating SNC1 nuclear abundance and activity.Consistently,compromising the SNC1 nuclear level by disrupting the nuclear pore complex could also partially rescue ka120-induced autoimmunity.Collectively,our study demonstrates that KA120 is essential to avoid autoimmune activation in the absence of pathogens and is required to constrain the nuclear activity of SNC1,possibly through coordinating SNC1 nucleocytoplasmic homeostasis as a potential mechanism.