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Resistance proteins play an integral role in plant innate immunity by perceiving pathogens and triggering defense responses. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Kang et al. uncover CRT1, an ATPase essential for resistance to turnip crinkle virus in Arabidopsis mediated by the Resistance (R) protein HRT. CRT1 interacts with an array of R proteins in vivo, suggesting that it plays a role in R protein activation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary Plant pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) perceive microbial and endogenous molecular patterns to activate immune signaling. The cytoplasmic kinase BIK1 acts downstream of multiple PRRs as a rate-limiting component, whose phosphorylation and accumulation are central to immune signal propagation. Previous work identified the calcium-dependent protein kinase CPK28 and heterotrimeric G proteins as negative and positive regulators of BIK1 accumulation, respectively. However, mechanisms underlying this regulation remain unknown. Here we show that the plant U-box proteins PUB25 and PUB26 are homologous E3 ligases that mark BIK1 for degradation to negatively regulate immunity. We demonstrate that the heterotrimeric G proteins inhibit PUB25/26 activity to stabilize BIK1, whereas CPK28 specifically phosphorylates conserved residues in PUB25/26 to enhance their activity and promote BIK1 degradation. Interestingly, PUB25/26 specifically target non-activated BIK1, suggesting that activated BIK1 is maintained for immune signaling. Our findings reveal a multi-protein regulatory module that enables robust yet tightly regulated immune responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial plant pathogens deploy amphipathic cyclic lipopeptides to reduce surface tension in their environment. While plants can detect these molecules to activate cellular stress responses, the role of these lipopeptides or associated host responses in pathogenesis are not fully clear. The gramillin cyclic lipopeptide is produced by the Fusarium graminearum fungus and is a virulence factor and toxin in maize. Here, we show that gramillin promotes virulence and necrosis in both monocots and dicots by disrupting ion balance across membranes. Gramillin is a cation-conducting ionophore and causes plasma membrane depolarization. This disruption triggers cellular signaling, including a burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS), transcriptional reprogramming, and callose production. Gramillin-induced ROS depends on expression of host ILK1 and RBOHD genes, which promote fungal induction of virulence genes during infection and host susceptibility. We conclude that gramillin's ionophore activity targets plant membranes to coordinate attack by the F. graminearum fungus., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Crown Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Plant perception of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) triggers a phosphorylation relay leading to PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). Despite increasing knowledge of PTI signaling, how immune homeostasis is maintained remains largely unknown. Here we describe a forward-genetic screen to identify loci involved in PTI and characterize the Arabidopsis calcium-dependent protein kinase CPK28 as a negative regulator of immune signaling. Genetic analyses demonstrate that CPK28 attenuates PAMP-triggered immune responses and antibacterial immunity. CPK28 interacts with and phosphorylates the plasma-membrane-associated cytoplasmic kinase BIK1, an important convergent substrate of multiple pattern recognition receptor (PRR) complexes. We find that BIK1 is rate limiting in PTI signaling and that it is continuously turned over to maintain cellular homeostasis. We further show that CPK28 contributes to BIK1 turnover. Our results suggest a negative regulatory mechanism that continually buffers immune signaling by controlling the turnover of this key signaling kinase., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)