Plant innate immunity--sunny side up?

Simon Stael; Przemyslaw Kmiecik; Patrick Willems; Katrien Van Der Kelen; Nuria S Coll; Markus Teige; Frank Van Breusegem

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2014.10.002

Plant innate immunity--sunny side up?

Trends Plant Sci. 2015 Jan;20(1):3-11. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2014.10.002. Epub 2014 Oct 29.

Authors

Simon Stael¹, Przemyslaw Kmiecik², Patrick Willems¹, Katrien Van Der Kelen³, Nuria S Coll⁴, Markus Teige⁵, Frank Van Breusegem⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Medical Protein Research, VIB, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Biochemistry, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
² Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, Vienna University, Vienna, Austria.
³ Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Molecular Genetics, Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics, CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB Consortium, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
⁵ Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology, Vienna University, Vienna, Austria; Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
⁶ Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: frank.vanbreusegem@psb.vib-ugent.be.

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species (ROS)- and calcium- dependent signaling pathways play well-established roles during plant innate immunity. Chloroplasts host major biosynthetic pathways and have central roles in energy production, redox homeostasis, and retrograde signaling. However, the organelle's importance in immunity has been somehow overlooked. Recent findings suggest that the chloroplast also has an unanticipated function as a hub for ROS- and calcium-signaling that affects immunity responses at an early stage after pathogen attack. In this opinion article, we discuss a chloroplastic calcium-ROS signaling branch of plant innate immunity. We propose that this chloroplastic branch acts as a light-dependent rheostat that, through the production of ROS, influences the severity of the immune response.

Keywords: calcium signaling; chloroplast; effector-triggered immunity; light; pathogen; pathogen-triggered immunity; reactive oxygen species signaling.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Calcium / metabolism*
Chloroplasts / metabolism
Light
Plant Immunity*
Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism*
Signal Transduction*

Substances

Reactive Oxygen Species
Calcium

Grants and funding

P 25359/FWF_/Austrian Science Fund FWF/Austria