title: Maize Homologs of Hydroxycinnamoyltransferase, a Key Enzyme in Lignin Biosynthesis, Bind the Nucleotide Binding Leucine-Rich Repeat Rp1 Proteins to Modulate the Defense Response.
abstract: In plants, most disease resistance genes encode nucleotide binding Leu-rich repeat (NLR) proteins that trigger a rapid localized cell death called a hypersensitive response (HR) upon pathogen recognition. The maize (Zea mays) NLR protein Rp1-D21 derives from an intragenic recombination between two NLRs, Rp1-D and Rp1-dp2, and confers an autoactive HR in the absence of pathogen infection. From a previous quantitative trait loci and genome-wide association study, we identified a single-nucleotide polymorphism locus highly associated with variation in the severity of Rp1-D21-induced HR. Two maize genes encoding hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HCT; a key enzyme involved in lignin biosynthesis) homologs, termed HCT1806 and HCT4918, were adjacent to this single-nucleotide polymorphism. Here, we show that both HCT1806 and HCT4918 physically interact with and suppress the HR conferred by Rp1-D21 but not other autoactive NLRs when transiently coexpressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. Other maize HCT homologs are unable to confer the same level of suppression on Rp1-D21-induced HR. The metabolic activity of HCT1806 and HCT4918 is unlikely to be necessary for their role in suppressing HR. We show that the lignin pathway is activated by Rp1-D21 at both the transcriptional and metabolic levels. We derive a model to explain the roles of HCT1806 and HCT4918 in Rp1-mediated disease resistance.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Plant Pathology (G.-F.W., Y.H., B.A.O., P.J.B.-K.),Plant and Microbial Biology (R.S., X.L.), andBiological Sciences (D.N.), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695;Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina 28081 (R.S., X.L.); andPlant Science Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 (P.J.B.-K.) gwang11@ncsu.edu peter.balint-kurti@ars.usda.gov.
authors.forename: Guan-Feng
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9036-741X
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Departments of Plant Pathology (G.-F.W., Y.H., B.A.O., P.J.B.-K.),Plant and Microbial Biology (R.S., X.L.), andBiological Sciences (D.N.), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695;Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina 28081 (R.S., X.L.); andPlant Science Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 (P.J.B.-K.).
authors.forename: Yijian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Departments of Plant Pathology (G.-F.W., Y.H., B.A.O., P.J.B.-K.),Plant and Microbial Biology (R.S., X.L.), andBiological Sciences (D.N.), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695;Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina 28081 (R.S., X.L.); andPlant Science Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 (P.J.B.-K.).
authors.forename: Renee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Strauch
authors.affiliation: Departments of Plant Pathology (G.-F.W., Y.H., B.A.O., P.J.B.-K.),Plant and Microbial Biology (R.S., X.L.), andBiological Sciences (D.N.), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695;Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina 28081 (R.S., X.L.); andPlant Science Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 (P.J.B.-K.).
authors.forename: Bode A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4143-8909
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Olukolu
authors.affiliation: Departments of Plant Pathology (G.-F.W., Y.H., B.A.O., P.J.B.-K.),Plant and Microbial Biology (R.S., X.L.), andBiological Sciences (D.N.), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695;Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina 28081 (R.S., X.L.); andPlant Science Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 (P.J.B.-K.).
authors.forename: Dahlia
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0123-6085
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Departments of Plant Pathology (G.-F.W., Y.H., B.A.O., P.J.B.-K.),Plant and Microbial Biology (R.S., X.L.), andBiological Sciences (D.N.), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695;Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina 28081 (R.S., X.L.); andPlant Science Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 (P.J.B.-K.).
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Departments of Plant Pathology (G.-F.W., Y.H., B.A.O., P.J.B.-K.),Plant and Microbial Biology (R.S., X.L.), andBiological Sciences (D.N.), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695;Plants for Human Health Institute, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, North Carolina 28081 (R.S., X.L.); andPlant Science Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695 (P.J.B.-K.) gwang11@ncsu.edu peter.balint-kurti@ars.usda.gov.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3916-194X
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Balint-Kurti
mesh_terms: D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000276:immunology*; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D000090263:Leucine-Rich Repeat Proteins; D008031:Lignin / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008954:Models, Biological; D000070576:NLR Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D015398:Signal Transduction; D003313:Zea mays / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D000090263:Leucine-Rich Repeat Proteins; D000070576:NLR Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011506:Proteins; C121068:Rp1-D protein, Zea mays; D008031:Lignin; D000217:Acyltransferases