Abstract
Plant innate immunity mostly relies on nucleotide-binding (NB) and leucine-rich repeat (LRR) intracellular receptors to detect pathogen-derived molecules and to induce defense responses. A multitaxa reconstruction of NB-domain associations allowed us to identify the first NB-LRR arrangement in the Chlorophyta division of the Viridiplantae. Our analysis points out that the basic NOD-like receptor (NLR) unit emerged in Chlorophytes by horizontal transfer and its diversification started from Toll/interleukin receptor-NB-LRR members. The operon-based genomic structure of Chromochloris zofingiensis NLR copies suggests a functional origin of NLR clusters. Moreover, the transmembrane signatures of NLR proteins in the unicellular alga C. zofingiensis support the hypothesis that the NLR-based immunity system of plants derives from a cell-surface surveillance system. Taken together, our findings suggest that NLRs originated in unicellular algae and may have a common origin with cell-surface LRR receptors.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3466-3477 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Genome Biology and Evolution |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 12 |
Early online date | 15 Nov 2019 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2019 |
Profiles
-
Jonathan Jones
- School of Biological Sciences - Professor of Biology
- Plant Sciences - Member
Person: Research Group Member, Academic, Teaching & Research