BIK1 cooperates with BAK1 to regulate constitutive immunity and cell death in Arabidopsis.

In Arabidopsis, both the membrane-anchored receptor-like kinase (RLK) BAK1 and the receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase (RLCK) BIK1 are important mediators of transmembrane signal transduction that regulate plant development and immunity. However, little attention has been paid to their genetic association. This study found the bak1 bik1 double mutant of Arabidopsis displayed a severe dwarfism phenotype due to constitutive immunity and cell death in developing plants. These data suggest that BIK1 cooperates with BAK1 to regulate constitutive immunity and cell death.
(© 2017 The Authors. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology Published by Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd on behalf of Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.)