Defended to the Nines: 25 Years of Resistance Gene Cloning Identifies Nine Mechanisms for R Protein Function

Plants have many, highly variable resistance (R) gene loci, which provide resistance to a variety of pathogens. The first R gene to be cloned, maize (Zea mays) Hm1, was published over 25 years ago, and since then, many different R genes have been identified and isolated. The encoded proteins have pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Plant cell 2018-02, Vol.30 (2), p.285-299
Main Authors: Kourelis, Jiorgos, van der Hoorn, Renier A.L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cell surface
Cloning
Cloning, Molecular
Corn
Disease resistance
Disease Resistance - genetics
Genes
Immunity
Intracellular
Kinases
Leucine
Molecular modelling
Pathogens
Perception
Plant Diseases - immunology
Plant Proteins - genetics
Plants - genetics
Plants - immunology
Proteins
R protein
Receptors
REVIEW
Transcription activation
Zea mays
Zea mays - genetics
Zea mays - immunology
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Summary:Plants have many, highly variable resistance (R) gene loci, which provide resistance to a variety of pathogens. The first R gene to be cloned, maize (Zea mays) Hm1, was published over 25 years ago, and since then, many different R genes have been identified and isolated. The encoded proteins have provided clues to the diverse molecular mechanisms underlying immunity. Here, we present a meta-analysis of 314 cloned R genes. The majority of R genes encode cell surface or intracellular receptors, and we distinguish nine molecular mechanisms by which R proteins can elevate or trigger disease resistance: direct (1) or indirect (2) perception of pathogen-derived molecules on the cell surface by receptor-like proteins and receptor-like kinases; direct (3) or indirect (4) intracellular detection of pathogen-derived molecules by nucleotide binding, leucine-rich repeat receptors, or detection through integrated domains (5); perception of transcription activator-like effectors through activation of executor genes (6); and active (7), passive (8), or host reprogramming-mediated (9) loss of susceptibility. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying the functions of R genes are only understood for a small proportion of known R genes, a clearer understanding of mechanisms is emerging and will be crucial for rational engineering and deployment of novel R genes.
ISSN:1040-4651
1532-298X
DOI:10.1105/tpc.17.00579