Interfering TAL effectors of Xanthomonas oryzae neutralize R-gene-mediated plant disease resistance.
Plant pathogenic bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas possess transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) that activate transcription of disease susceptibility genes in the host, inducing a state of disease. Here we report that some isolates of the rice pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae use truncated versions of TALEs (which we term interfering TALEs, or iTALEs) to overcome disease resistance. In comparison with typical TALEs, iTALEs lack a transcription activation domain but retain nuclear localization motifs and are expressed from genes that were previously considered pseudogenes. We show that the rice gene Xa1, encoding a nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat protein, confers resistance against X. oryzae isolates by recognizing multiple TALEs. However, the iTALEs present in many isolates interfere with the otherwise broad-spectrum resistance conferred by Xa1. Our findings illustrate how bacterial effectors that trigger disease resistance in the host can evolve to interfere with the resistance process and, thus, promote disease.
School of Agriculture and Biology/State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.|Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, 1035C Roy J. Carver Co-Lab, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA.
Zhiyuan
Z
Ji
Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, 1035C Roy J. Carver Co-Lab, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA.
Chonghui
C
Ji
Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, 1035C Roy J. Carver Co-Lab, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA.
Bo
B
Liu
School of Agriculture and Biology/State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Lifang
L
Zou
School of Agriculture and Biology/State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Gongyou
G
Chen
Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, 1035C Roy J. Carver Co-Lab, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA.
Bing
B
Yang
D016923:Cell Death; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics*; D000070576:NLR Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D000072417:Protein Domains; D000071336:Transcription Activator-Like Effectors / Q000378:metabolism*; D014974:Xanthomonas / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*
D000070576:NLR Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D000071336:Transcription Activator-Like Effectors