Protein engineering expands the effector recognition profile of a rice NLR immune receptor.

ABSTRACT: Plant nucleotide binding, leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors detect pathogen effectors and initiate an immune response. Since their discovery, NLRs have been the focus of protein engineering to improve disease resistance. However, this approach has proven challenging, in part due to their narrow response specificity. Previously, we revealed the structural basis of pathogen recognition by the integrated heavy metal associated (HMA) domain of the rice NLR Pikp (Maqbool et al., 2015). Here, we used structure-guided engineering to expand the response profile of Pikp to variants of the rice blast pathogen effector AVR-Pik. A mutation located within an effector-binding interface of the integrated Pikp-HMA domain increased the binding affinity for AVR-Pik variants in vitro and in vivo. This tran

SUBMITTER: De la Concepcion JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6768660 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature