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ToolsMcClelland, Alexander J. and Ma, Wenbo (2024) Zig, Zag, and ’Zyme: Leveraging structural biology to engineer disease resistance. aBIOTECH, 5 (3). pp. 403-407. ISSN 2096-6326
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Abstract
Dynamic host–pathogen interactions determine whether disease will occur. Pathogen effector proteins are central players in such disease development. On one hand, they improve susceptibility by manipulating host targets; on the other hand, they can trigger immunity after recognition by host immune receptors. A major research direction in the study of molecular plant pathology is to understand effector-host interactions, which has informed the development and breeding of crops with enhanced disease resistance. Recent breakthroughs on experiment- and artificial intelligence-based structure analyses significantly accelerate the development of this research area. Importantly, the detailed molecular insight of effector–host interactions enables precise engineering to mitigate disease. Here, we highlight a recent study by Xiao et al., who describe the structure of an effector-receptor complex that consists of a fungal effector, with polygalacturonase (PG) activity, and a plant-derived polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein (PGIP). PGs weaken the plant cell wall and produce immune-suppressive oligogalacturonides (OGs) as a virulence mechanism; however, PGIPs directly bind to PGs and alter their enzymatic activity. When in a complex with PGIPs, PGs produce OG polymers with longer chains that can trigger immunity. Xiao et al. demonstrate that a PGIP creates a new active site tunnel, together with a PG, which favors the production of long-chain OGs. In this way, the PGIP essentially acts as both a PG receptor and enzymatic manipulator, converting virulence to defense activation. Taking a step forward, the authors used the PG-PGIP complex structure as a guide to generate PGIP variants with enhanced long-chain OG production, likely enabling further improved disease resistance. This study discovered a novel mechanism by which a plant receptor plays a dual role to activate immunity. It also demonstrates how fundamental knowledge, obtained through structural analyses, can be employed to guide the design of proteins with desired functions in agriculture.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Funding Information: Research in the Wenbo Ma group is supported by Gatsby Charitable Foundation and UKRI BBSRC Grant BBS/E/J/000PR9797. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | bioengineering,cell wall-degrading enzymes,plant immunity,receptor biology,structural biology,biotechnology,molecular biology,biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology (miscellaneous),genetics,agronomy and crop science,plant science ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1300/1305 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science > The Sainsbury Laboratory |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Oct 2024 10:30 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Oct 2025 17:32 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/97130 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s42994-024-00152-w |
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