Phytophthora sojae leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases: diverse and essential roles in development and pathogenicity

Jierui Si; Yong Pei; Danyu Shen; Peiyun Ji; Ruofei Xu; Xue Xue; Hao Peng; Xiangxiu Liang; Daolong Dou

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102725

Phytophthora sojae leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases: diverse and essential roles in development and pathogenicity

iScience. 2021 Jun 12;24(7):102725. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102725. eCollection 2021 Jul 23.

Authors

Jierui Si¹, Yong Pei¹, Danyu Shen¹, Peiyun Ji¹, Ruofei Xu¹, Xue Xue¹, Hao Peng², Xiangxiu Liang³, Daolong Dou^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Plant Immunity, College of Plant Protection, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
² Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6420, USA.
³ Key Laboratory of Pest Monitoring and Green Management, MOA and College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.

Abstract

Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) are critical signal receptors in plant development and defense. Like plants, oomycete pathogen genomes also harbor LRR-RLKs, but their functions remain largely unknown. Here, we systematically characterize all the 24 LRR-RLK genes (PsRLKs) from Phytophthora sojae, which is a model of oomycete pathogens. Although none of them was required for vegetative growth, the specific PsRLKs are important for stress responses, zoospore production, zoospores chemotaxis, and pathogenicity. Interestingly, the Gα subunit PsGPA1 interacts with the five chemotaxis-related PsRLKs via their intracellular kinase domains, and expression of PsGPA1 gene is downregulated in the three mutants (ΔPsRLK17/22/24). Moreover, we generated the PsRLK-PsRLK interaction network of P. sojae and found that PsRLK21, together with PsRLK10 or PsRLK17, regulate virulence by direct association. Taken together, our results reveal the diverse roles of LRR-RLKs in modulating P. sojae development, interaction with soybean, and responses to diverse environmental factors.

Keywords: Biological Sciences; Microbiology; Plant Biology.