UBP12/UBP13-mediated deubiquitination of salicylic acid receptor NPR3 suppresses plant immunity

Salicylic acid(SA),a defense hormone produced after pathogen challenge,is critical for plant immunity.Arabidopsis NONEXPRESSER OF PR GENES 1(NPR1)and its paralogs NPR3 and NPR4 can bind SA and mediate SA signal transduction.NPR1 functions as a transcriptional co-activator to promote defense gene expression,whereas NPR3 and NPR4 have been shown to function as negative regulators in the SA signaling pathway.Although the mechanism about NPR1 regulation has been well studied,how NPR3/NPR4 proteins are regulated in immune responses remains largely unknown.Here,we show that the stability of NPR3/NPR4 is enhanced by SA.In the absence of pathogen challenge,NPR3/NPR4 are unstable and degraded by the 26S proteasome,whereas the increase in cellular SA levels upon pathogen infection suppresses NPR3/NPR4 degradation.We found that UBP12 and UBP13,two homologous deubiquitinases from a ubiquitin-specific protease subfamily,negatively regulate plant immunity by promoting NPR3/NPR4 stability.Our genetic results further showed that UBP12/UBP13-mediated immunity suppression is partially dependent on NPR3/NPR4 functions.By interacting with NPR3 in the nucleus in an SA-dependent manner,UBP12 and UBP13 remove ubiquitin from polyubiquitinated NPR3 to protect it from being degraded.The stabilization of NPR3/NPR4 promoted by UBP12/UBP13 is essential for negative regulation of basal and SA-induced immunity.

Deubiquitination of BES1 by UBP12/UBP13 promotes brassinosteroid signaling and plant growth

As a key transcription factor in the brassinosteroid (BR) signaling pathway, the activity and expression ofBES1 (BRI1-EMS-SUPPRESSOR 1) are stringently regulated. BES1 degradation is mediated by ubiquitinrelated 26S proteasomal and autophagy pathways, which attenuate and terminate BR signaling;however,the opposing deubiquitinases (DUBs) are still unknown. Here, we showed that the ubp12-2w/13-3 doublemutant phenocopies the BR-deficient dwarf mutant, suggesting that the two DUBs UBP12/UBP13 antagonize ubiquitin-mediated degradation to stabilize BES1. These two DUBs can trim tetraubiquitin with K46 and K63 linkages in vitro. UBP12/BES1 and UBP13/BES1 complexes are localized in bothcytosol and nuclei. UBP12/13 can deubiquitinate polyubiquitinated BES1 in vitro and in planta, andUBP12 interacts with and deubiquitinates both inactive, phosphorylated BES1 and active, dephosphorylated BES1 in vivo. UBP12 overexpression in BES1OE plants significantly enhances cell elongation in hypocotyls and petioles and increases the ratio of leaf length to width compared with BES1OE or UBP12OE plants.Hypocotyl elongation and etiolation result from elevated BES1 levels because BES1 degradation is retardedby UBP12 in darkness or in light with BR. Protein degradation inhibitor experiments show that the majorityof BES1 can be degraded by either the proteasomal or the autophagy pathway, but a minor BES1 fractionremains pathway specific. In conclusion, UBP12/UBP13 deubiquitinate BES1 to stabilize the latter as a positive regulator for BR responses.