The BRI1-associated kinase 1, BAK1, has a brassinolide-independent role in plant cell-death control.
Curr Biol
; 17(13): 1116-22, 2007 Jul 03.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17583510
ABSTRACT
Programmed cell death (PCD) is a common host response to microbial infection [1-3]. In plants, PCD is associated with immunity to biotrophic pathogens, but it can also promote disease upon infection by necrotrophic pathogens [4]. Therefore, plant cell-suicide programs must be strictly controlled. Here we demonstrate that the Arabidopsis thaliana Brassinosteroid Insensitive 1 (BRI1)-associated receptor Kinase 1 (BAK1), which operates as a coreceptor of BRI1 in brassinolide (BL)-dependent plant development, also regulates the containment of microbial infection-induced cell death. BAK1-deficient plants develop spreading necrosis upon infection. This is accompanied by production of reactive oxygen intermediates and results in enhanced susceptibility to necrotrophic fungal pathogens. The exogenous application of BL rescues growth defects of bak1 mutants but fails to restore immunity to fungal infection. Moreover, BL-insensitive and -deficient mutants do not exhibit spreading necrosis or enhanced susceptibility to fungal infections. Together, these findings suggest that plant steroid-hormone signaling is dispensable for the containment of infection-induced PCD. We propose a novel, BL-independent function of BAK1 in plant cell-death control that is distinct from its BL-dependent role in plant development.
Search on Google
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
/
Arabidopsis
/
Arabidopsis Proteins
/
Pseudomonas syringae
Type of study:
Risk_factors_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Curr Biol
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
Year:
2007
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Germany