开启防御之门: 植物抗病小体

NLR蛋白是存在于植物和动物中的一个免疫受体大家族, 具有核苷酸结合域并富含亮氨酸重复序列。植物NLR通过识别病原菌特异效应子开启免疫信号转导。第1个植物NLR抗性蛋白于25年前克隆, 但其激活机制仍不清楚, 至今仍未获得一个完整的NLR蛋白结构。最近, 柴继杰、周俭民和王宏伟实验室合作解析了第一个植物完整NLR ZAR1激活前后的结构, 研究成果以两篇论文形式发表在“科学”杂志上, 填补了NLR介导的免疫信号转导研究领域的空白。该文简要总结了相关研究进展, 讨论了NLR免疫信号转导研究领域尚需解决的问题。     

NLR及其在植物抗病中的调控作用

为适应丰富多变的生存环境, 植物逐渐进化出一套复杂的免疫系统来抵抗病原菌的侵染。核苷酸结合的富含亮氨酸重复蛋白(NLR)作为植物体内普遍存在的一类抗性(R)蛋白, 对植物的抗病性具有重要调控作用。该文综述了NLR蛋白结构、信号转导以及对植物抗病的调控作用近几年的研究进展。     

NLR及其在植物抗病中的调控作用

为适应丰富多变的生存环境,植物逐渐进化出一套复杂的免疫系统来抵抗病原菌的侵染。核苷酸结合的富含亮氨酸重复蛋白(NLR)作为植物体内普遍存在的一类抗性(R)蛋白,对植物的抗病性具有重要调控作用。该文综述了NLR蛋白结构、信号转导以及对植物抗病的调控作用近几年的研究进展。     

植物激素水杨酸生物合成和信号转导研究进展

植物激素水杨酸(salicylic acid,SA)是广泛存在于植物体中的小分子酚类物质,参与植物多种生理过程,特别是在植物免疫中发挥重要功能。植物免疫过程中体内SA大量合成,SA信号通路被激活从而诱导抗病相关基因表达。近年来,随着研究的不断深入,SA生物合成和信号转导都取得一系列重要进展:进一步完善了SA生物合成的异分支酸合酶(isochorismate synthase, ICS)和苯丙氨酸解氨酶(phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, PAL)途径;明确了NPR1 (nonexpresser of PR genes 1)和其同源蛋白NPR3、NPR4是植物接收SA的受体;发现Ⅱ类TGA (TGACG-binding factor)转录因子通过与不同SA受体互作激活或抑制下游基因表达等。本文系统介绍了SA生物合成和信号转导领域的相关进展,以期为深入研究SA调控植物生长发育和环境胁迫响应提供理论参考。     

植物NLR基因的表达调控及应用策略

含有一个核酸结合位点以及富含亮氨酸重复序列(nucleotide-binding leucine rich repeats,NLR)类抗性基因在植物免疫中发挥重要作用。该文综述了近年来植物NLR基因的结构和功能特点,在转录、转录后、翻译水平的表达调控,植物NLR基因在增强作物抗性中的应用策略方面的研究进展。植物NLR基因表达调控的研究有助于揭示其分子作用机制,增加对NLR基因信号传导过程的了解;植物NLR基因应用策略的研究在开发抗性作物新品种中有较强的应用价值。     

植物抗病蛋白研究进展

为了应对外界复杂的环境变化, 植物进化出一套复杂而精细的免疫应答调控机制。植物抗病蛋白能够特异地识别病原微生物分泌的效应蛋白, 触发免疫响应以对抗病原微生物的侵扰。该文综述了植物抗病蛋白的结构与功能及对病原菌的识别方式、在免疫响应过程中抗病蛋白的动态平衡机制及其介导的防御反应信号转导。开展植物抗病蛋白研究可为定向培育抗病作物奠定理论基础。     

信号转导蛋白PⅡ的研究进展

PⅡ蛋白是一种信号转导蛋白,存在于细菌、古细菌和植物中,该蛋白通过调节信号传导酶的活性来控制细胞内的碳、氮代谢.就PⅡ蛋白的结构、功能以及在细菌和植物中PⅡ蛋白的研究进行了系统阐述.     

BAK1调控植物免疫信号识别和转导的分子机制

植物通过类受体激酶感知环境变化,产生相应的信号来调控机体生长发育。BAK1 (BRI1-associated kinase 1)是其中研究最深入的类受体激酶之一。它调控多种生理过程的信号转导,如植物生长发育、细胞死亡和植物免疫等。本文综述了BAK1作为模式识别受体的共受体以及信号转导的调控子,调控免疫信号识别和转导的机理。以期为深入研究BAK1基因家族在植物抗病反应中的作用,阐明植物免疫信号转导途径提供信息。     

DEP结构域的结构与功能

DEP结构域首次在Dishevelled、EGL-10和Pleckstrin三种蛋白质中发现,是一个高度保守的蛋白结构域。过去20年的研究表明,DEP结构域存在于许多信号蛋白中,并参与了信号转导、细胞极性确立和小分子信号激活等生命活动过程,特别是在GPCR信号转导和Wnt信号通路中起着至关重要的作用。本文将结合最新研究进展,以及通过生物信息学的数据挖掘,对DEP结构域的结构和功能进行简要概述。     

富含半胱氨酸的GASA小分子蛋白研究进展

GASA蛋白是植物特有的一类富含半胱氨酸的小分子蛋白, 大多定位于细胞壁, 在植物生长发育和激素信号转导过程中发挥重要作用。该蛋白具有富含12个半胱氨酸残基的GASA结构域, 该结构域被认为是GASA蛋白维持空间结构和发挥功能的关键区域。该文重点综述了植物GASA蛋白的分子结构、亚细胞定位和生物学功能, 并对相关领域的研究进行了 展望。     

Molecular actions of NLR immune receptors in plants and animals

NLRs constitute intracellular immune receptors in both plants and animals. Direct or indirect ligand recognition results in formation of oligomeric NLR complexes to mediate immune signaling. Over the past 20 years, rapid progress has been made in our understanding of NLR signaling. Structural and biochemical studies provide insight into molecular basis of autoinhibition,ligand recognition, and resistosome/inflammasome formation of several NLRs. In this review, we summarize these studies focusing on the structural aspect of NLRs. We also discuss the analogies and differences between plant and animal NLRs in their mechanisms of action and how the available knowledge may shed light on the signaling mechanisms of other NLRs.     

Plant immune signaling: Advancing on two frontiers

Plants have evolved multiple defense strategies to cope with pathogens, among which plant immune signaling that relies on cell-surface localized and intracellular receptors takes fundamental roles. Exciting breakthroughs were made recently on the signaling mechanisms of pattern recognition receptors(PRRs) and intracellular nucleotide-binding site(NBS) and leucine-rich repeat(LRR)domain receptors(NLRs). This review summarizes the current view of PRRs activation, emphasizing the most recent discoveries about PRRs’ dynamic regulation and signaling mechanisms directly leading to downstream molecular events including mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) activation and calcium(Ca2+) burst. Plants also have evolved intracellular NLRs to perceive the presence of specific pathogen effectors and trigger more robust immune responses. We also discuss the current understanding of the mechanisms of NLR activation, which has been greatly advanced by recent breakthroughs including structures of the first full-length plant NLR complex, findings of NLR sensor-helper pairs and novel biochemical activity of Toll/interleukin-1 receptor(TIR) domain.     

Molecular insights into the biochemical functions and signalling mechanisms of plant NLRs

Plant intracellular immune receptors known as NLR (nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat) proteins confer immunity and cause cell death. Plant NLR proteins that directly or indirectly recognize pathogen effector proteins to initiate immune signalling are regarded as sensor NLRs. Some NLR protein families function downstream of sensor NLRs to transduce immune signalling and are known as helper NLRs. Recent breakthrough studies on plant NLR protein structures and biochemical functions greatly advanced our understanding of NLR biology. Comprehensive and detailed knowledge on NLR biology requires future efforts to solve more NLR protein structures and investigate the signalling events between sensor and helper NLRs, and downstream of helper NLRs.     

The Nod-like receptor (NLR) family: a tale of similarities and differences

Innate immunity represents an important system with a variety of vital processes at the core of many diseases. In recent years, the central role of the Nod-like receptor (NLR) protein family became increasingly appreciated in innate immune responses. NLRs are classified as part of the signal transduction ATPases with numerous domains (STAND) clade within the AAA+ ATPase family. They typically feature an N-terminal effector domain, a central nucleotide-binding domain (NACHT) and a C-terminal ligand-binding region that is composed of several leucine-rich repeats (LRRs). NLRs are believed to initiate or regulate host defense pathways through formation of signaling platforms that subsequently trigger the activation of inflammatory caspases and NF-kB. Despite their fundamental role in orchestrating key pathways in innate immunity, their mode of action in molecular terms remains largely unknown. Here we present the first comprehensive sequence and structure modeling analysis of NLR proteins, revealing that NLRs possess a domain architecture similar to the apoptotic initiator protein Apaf-1. Apaf-1 performs its cellular function by the formation of a heptameric platform, dubbed apoptosome, ultimately triggering the controlled demise of the affected cell. The mechanism of apoptosome formation by Apaf-1 potentially offers insight into the activation mechanisms of NLR proteins. Multiple sequence alignment analysis and homology modeling revealed Apaf-1-like structural features in most members of the NLR family, suggesting a similar biochemical behaviour in catalytic activity and oligomerization. Evolutionary tree comparisons substantiate the conservation of characteristic functional regions within the NLR family and are in good agreement with domain distributions found in distinct NLRs. Importantly, the analysis of LRR domains reveals surprisingly low conservation levels among putative ligand-binding motifs. The same is true for the effector domains exhibiting distinct interfaces ensuring specific interactions with downstream target proteins. All together these factors suggest specific biological functions for individual NLRs.     

Analysis of intraspecies diversity reveals a subset of highly variable plant immune receptors and predicts their binding sites

The evolution of recognition specificities by the immune system depends on the generation of receptor diversity and on connecting the binding of new antigens with the initiation of downstream signaling. In plant immunity, the innate Nucleotide-Binding Leucine-Rich Repeat (NLR) receptor family enables antigen binding and immune signaling. In this study, we surveyed the NLR complements of 62 ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana and 54 lines of Brachypodium distachyon and identified a limited number of NLR subfamilies that show high allelic diversity. We show that the predicted specificity-determining residues cluster on the surfaces of Leucine-Rich Repeat domains, but the locations of the clusters vary among NLR subfamilies. By comparing NLR phylogeny, allelic diversity, and known functions of the Arabidopsis NLRs, we formulate a hypothesis for the emergence of direct and indirect pathogen-sensing receptors and of the autoimmune NLRs. These findings reveal the recurring patterns of evolution of innate immunity and can inform NLR engineering efforts.

NLR immune receptor complements of 62 ecotypes of A. thaliana and 54 lines of B. distachyon help identify highly variable NLR subfamilies responsible for the generation of new receptor specificities.     

Diversity,structure and function of the coiled‐coil domains of plant NLR immune receptors

Plant nucleotide‐binding, leucine‐rich repeat receptors (NLRs) perceive pathogen avirulence effectors and activate defense responses. Nucleotide‐binding, leucine‐rich repeat receptors are classified into coiled‐coil (CC)‐containing and Toll/interleukin‐1 receptor (TIR)‐containing NLRs. Recent advances suggest that NLR CC domains often function in signaling activation, especially for induction of cell death. In this review, we outline our current understanding of NLR CC domains, including their diversity/classification and structure, their roles in cell death induction, disease resistance, and interaction with other proteins. Furthermore, we provide possible directions for future work.     

Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors: intracellular pattern recognition molecules for pathogen detection and host defense

The nucleotide binding oligomerization domain-like receptor (NLR) family of pattern recognition molecules is involved in a diverse array of processes required for host immune responses against invading pathogens. Unlike TLRs that mediate extracellular recognition of microbes, several NLRs sense pathogens in the cytosol and upon activation induce host defense signaling pathways. Although TLRs and NLRs differ in their mode of pathogen recognition and function, they share similar domains for microbial sensing and cooperate to elicit immune responses against the pathogen. Genetic variation in several NLR genes is associated with the development of inflammatory disorders or increased susceptibility to microbial infection. Further understanding of NLRs should provide critical insight into the mechanisms of host defense and the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases.