Two NLR immune receptors acquired high-affinity binding to a fungal effector through convergent evolution of their integrated domain

DOI: 10.7554/eLife.66961

Authors: Aleksandra Bialas (University of East Anglia) , Thorsten Langner (University of East Anglia) , Adeline Harant (University of East Anglia) , Mauricio P. Contreras (University of East Anglia) , Clare E. M. Stevenson (John Innes Centre) , David M. Lawson (John Innes Centre) , Jan Sklenar (University of East Anglia) , Ronny Kellner (University of East Anglia) , Matthew J Moscou (University of East Anglia) , Ryohei Terauchi (Iwate Biotechnology Research Centre; Kyoto University) , Mark J. Banfield (John Innes Centre) , Sophien Kamoun (University of East Anglia)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Elife , VOL 10

State: Published (Approved)
Published: July 2021
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 18565

Abstract: A subset of plant NLR immune receptors carry unconventional integrated domains in addition to their canonical domain architecture. One example is rice Pik-1 that comprises an integrated heavy metal-associated (HMA) domain. Here, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of Pik-1 and its NLR partner, Pik-2, and tested hypotheses about adaptive evolution of the HMA domain. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the HMA domain integrated into Pik-1 before Oryzinae speciation over 15 million years ago and has been under diversifying selection. Ancestral sequence reconstruction coupled with functional studies showed that two Pik-1 allelic variants independently evolved from a weakly binding ancestral state to high-affinity binding of the blast fungus effector AVR-PikD. We conclude that for most of its evolutionary history the Pik-1 HMA domain did not sense AVR-PikD, and that different Pik-1 receptors have recently evolved through distinct biochemical paths to produce similar phenotypic outcomes. These findings highlight the dynamic nature of the evolutionary mechanisms underpinning NLR adaptation to plant pathogens.

Subject Areas: Biology and Bio-materials, Chemistry


Instruments: I03-Macromolecular Crystallography

Added On: 09/08/2021 14:46

Documents:
elife-66961-v1.pdf

Discipline Tags:

Evolutionary science Plant science Biochemistry Chemistry Structural biology Biophysics Life Sciences & Biotech

Technical Tags:

Diffraction Macromolecular Crystallography (MX)