Plant Science Colloquium with Prof. Dr. Kee Hoon Sohn

Plant pathogenic bacteria deliver effectors into plant cells to suppress immunity and promote pathogen survival; however, Nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat receptors (NLRs) detect effectors inside the plant cell to activate innate immunity. To identify Nicotiana benthamiana NLRs (NbNLRs) with novel effector recognition specificity, we designed an NbNLR VIGS library and conducted a rapid reverse genetic screen. During the NbNLR VIGS library screening, we identified that N. benthamiana homolog of Ptr1 (PSEUDOMONAS SYRINGAE PV. TOMATO RACE 1 RESISTANCE) recognizes the Pseudomonas effectors AvrRpt2, AvrRpm1, and AvrB that are previously known to trigger immune responses in Arabidopsis. We demonstrated that recognition of the Xanthomonas effector AvrBsT and the Pseudomonas effector HopZ5 in N. benthamiana is conferred independently by N. benthamiana homolog of Ptr1 and ZAR1 (HOPZ-ACTIVATED RESISTANCE 1).