Zhang Songyuan, Liu Songyuan, Lai Hung-Fei, Bender Kyle W, Kim Gijeong, Caflisch Amedeo, Zipfel Cyril
Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Nat Plants. 2025 Jul 28. doi: 10.1038/s41477-025-02050-5.
In the ongoing plant-pathogen arms race, plants use pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) to recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), while in successful pathogens, PAMPs can evolve to evade detection. Engineering PRRs to recognize evading PAMPs could potentially generate broad-spectrum and durable disease resistance. Here we reverse-engineered two natural variants of the PRR FLAGELLIN SENSING 2 (FLS2), VrFLS2XL and GmFLS2b, with extended recognition specificities towards evading flg22 variants. We identified minimal gain-of-function residues enabling blind FLS2s to recognize otherwise evading flg22 variants. We uncovered two strategies: (1) optimizing FLS2-flg22 interaction around flg22's key evasion sites and (2) strengthening direct FLS2-BAK1 interaction to overcome weak agonistic and antagonistic flg22s, respectively. In addition, we leveraged polymorphisms that enhance recognition through unknown mechanisms to engineer a superior recognition capability. These findings offer basic design principles to engineer PRRs with broader recognition spectra, paving the way for PRR engineering to generate precisely gene-edited disease-resistant crops.
在持续的植物 - 病原体军备竞赛中，植物利用模式识别受体（PRR）来识别病原体相关分子模式（PAMP），而在成功的病原体中，PAMP可以进化以逃避检测。对PRR进行工程改造以识别逃避的PAMP可能会产生广谱且持久的抗病性。在这里，我们对PRR鞭毛蛋白感应2（FLS2）的两个天然变体VrFLS2XL和GmFLS2b进行了逆向工程，使其对逃避的flg22变体具有扩展的识别特异性。我们确定了使无识别能力的FLS2能够识别原本逃避的flg22变体的最小功能获得性残基。我们发现了两种策略：（1）在flg22的关键逃避位点周围优化FLS2 - flg22相互作用，以及（2）分别加强直接的FLS2 - BAK1相互作用以克服弱激动性和拮抗性flg22变体。此外，我们利用通过未知机制增强识别的多态性来设计卓越的识别能力。这些发现为设计具有更广泛识别谱的PRR提供了基本设计原则，为通过PRR工程培育精确基因编辑的抗病作物铺平了道路。
