title: SERK Family Receptor-like Kinases Function as Co-receptors with PXY for Plant Vascular Development.
abstract: In Arabidopsis, the CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION-RELATED (CLE) peptides play important roles in regulating proliferation and differentiation of plant-specific stem cells. Although receptors of CLEs are reported to be leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases, the mechanisms underlying CLE-induced receptor activation remain largely unknown. Here we show that SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR KINASEs (SERKs) serve as co-receptors in CLE41/TDIF-PXY signaling to regulate plant vascular development. TDIF induces interaction of its receptor PXY with SERKs in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the serk1-1 serk2-1 bak1-5 mutant plants are less sensitive to TDIF, phenocopying the pxy mutant with a compromised promotion of procambial cell proliferation. Crystal structure of the PXY-TDIF-SERK2 complex reveals that the last amino acid of TDIF conserved among CLEs and other evolutionary-related peptides is important for the interaction between SERK2 and PXY. Taken together, our current study identifies SERKs as signaling components of the TDIF-PXY pathway and suggests a conserved activation mechanism of CLE receptors.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Heqiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Joint Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoya
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Zhifu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Jizong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Joint Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. Electronic address: qulj@pku.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Li-Jia
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Electronic address: chaijj@tsinghua.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jijie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chai
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D052584:Xylem / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D009842:Oligopeptides; C532424:tracheary element differentiation inhibitory factor, Arabidopsis; D011494:Protein Kinases; C524131:PXY protein, Arabidopsis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; C000601951:somatic embryogenesis receptor-like kinase 2, Arabidopsis
keywords: PXY-TDIF; SERK; co-receptor; receptor-like kinase; vascular development