The hnRNP-Q protein LIF2 participates in the plant immune response

• Published in: PloS one 2014-06, Vol.9 (6), p.e99343-e99343
• Main Authors: Le Roux, Clémentine, Del Prete, Stefania, Boutet-Mercey, Stéphanie, Perreau, François, Balagué, Claudine, Roby, Dominique, Fagard, Mathilde, Gaudin, Valérie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acids; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - immunology; Arabidopsis - metabolism; Arabidopsis - microbiology; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Arabidopsis thaliana; Biology and Life Sciences; Biosynthesis; Botrytis; Botrytis cinerea; Cyclopentanes - metabolism; Defense programs; Deregulation; Epigenetics; Eukaryotes; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Ontology; Genes; Glucosinolates; Glucosinolates - metabolism; Health aspects; Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins - genetics; Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins - metabolism; Homology; Immune response; Immune system; Immunity; Infections; Innate immunity; Jasmonic acid; Life cycle engineering; Life cycles; Life Sciences; Metabolites; Models, Biological; Mutants; Mutation; Mutation - genetics; Oxylipins - metabolism; Pathogens; Pathways; Physiological aspects; Plant Diseases - genetics; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plant immunity; Plant Immunity - genetics; Proteins; Pseudomonas syringae; Pseudomonas syringae - physiology; RNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; RNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Salicylic acid; Salicylic Acid - metabolism; Secondary metabolites; Signal Transduction - genetics; Signaling; Stress response; Stress, Physiological - genetics; Studies; Transcriptome - genetics
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099343

Eukaryotes have evolved complex defense pathways to combat invading pathogens. Here, we investigated the role of the Arabidopsis thaliana heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP-Q) LIF2 in the plant innate immune response. We show that LIF2 loss-of-function in A. thaliana leads to changes in the basal expression of the salicylic acid (SA)- and jasmonic acid (JA)- dependent defense marker genes PR1 and PDF1.2, respectively. Whereas the expression of genes involved in SA and JA biosynthesis and signaling was also affected in the lif2-1 mutant, no change in SA and JA hormonal contents was detected. In addition, the composition of glucosinolates, a class of defense-related secondary metabolites, was altered in the lif2-1 mutant in the absence of pathogen challenge. The lif2-1 mutant exhibited reduced susceptibility to the hemi-biotrophic pathogen Pseudomonas syringae and the necrotrophic ascomycete Botrytis cinerea. Furthermore, the lif2-1 sid2-2 double mutant was less susceptible than the wild type to P. syringae infection, suggesting that the lif2 response to pathogens was independent of SA accumulation. Together, our data suggest that lif2-1 exhibits a basal primed defense state, resulting from complex deregulation of gene expression, which leads to increased resistance to pathogens with various infection strategies. Therefore, LIF2 may function as a suppressor of cell-autonomous immunity. Similar to its human homolog, NSAP1/SYNCRIP, a trans-acting factor involved in both cellular processes and the viral life cycle, LIF2 may regulate the conflicting aspects of development and defense programs, suggesting that a conserved evolutionary trade-off between growth and defense pathways exists in eukaryotes.