title: Arabidopsis EF-Tu receptor enhances bacterial disease resistance in transgenic wheat.
abstract: Perception of pathogen (or microbe)-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs/MAMPs) by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) is a key component of plant innate immunity. The Arabidopsis PRR EF-Tu receptor (EFR) recognizes the bacterial PAMP elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) and its derived peptide elf18. Previous work revealed that transgenic expression of AtEFR in Solanaceae confers elf18 responsiveness and broad-spectrum bacterial disease resistance. In this study, we developed a set of bioassays to study the activation of PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI) in wheat. We generated transgenic wheat (Triticum aestivum) plants expressing AtEFR driven by the constitutive rice actin promoter and tested their response to elf18. We show that transgenic expression of AtEFR in wheat confers recognition of elf18, as measured by the induction of immune marker genes and callose deposition. When challenged with the cereal bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. oryzae, transgenic EFR wheat lines had reduced lesion size and bacterial multiplication. These results demonstrate that AtEFR can be transferred successfully from dicot to monocot species, further revealing that immune signalling pathways are conserved across these distant phyla. As novel PRRs are identified, their transfer between plant families represents a useful strategy for enhancing resistance to pathogens in crops.
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK.
authors.forename: Henk-Jan
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Schoonbeek
authors.forename: Hsi-Hua
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Francesca L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Stefanato
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Craze
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bowden
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wallington
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zipfel
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Ridout
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001681:Biological Assay; D060467:Disease Resistance; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D005936:Glucans / Q000378:metabolism; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics; D010444:Peptide Elongation Factor Tu / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D044224:Pseudomonas syringae / Q000502:physiology; D051192:Receptors, Pattern Recognition / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014908:Triticum / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C545106:EFR protein, Arabidopsis; D005936:Glucans; D051192:Receptors, Pattern Recognition; C048306:callose; D010444:Peptide Elongation Factor Tu
keywords: bacterial halo blight; dicotyledon-to-monocotyledon gene-transfer; durable disease resistance; immune receptor signalling; pathogen recognition; pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)/microbe-associate molecular pattern (MAMP)-triggered immunity; transgenic wheat