Viral action on the auxin signaling repressor IAA16 reveals a conserved negative regulator of plant growth and immunity.
Chen GP, Wu YM, Zhao SX, Wang SD, Liu YQ
Summary
8.2/10Researchers discovered how plant viruses manipulate a protein called IAA16 to simultaneously suppress plant growth and disease defenses. This finding reveals a potential target for breeding crops that maintain both vigor and disease resistance, addressing a major constraint in agriculture.
Key Findings
The viral βC1 protein blocks the degradation of IAA16 protein by inhibiting ATL52-mediated ubiquitination, allowing viruses to suppress plant defenses.
IAA16 acts as a dual negative regulator controlling both growth-promoting auxin signals and immunity-boosting salicylic acid signals.
The viral manipulation mechanism is conserved across plant species, including tomato, suggesting broad applicability for crop improvement strategies.
Original Abstract
Crop breeding endeavors are frequently constrained by the growth-defense trade-off, and uncoupling this trade-off remains challenging due to the limited knowledge of master regulators. Geminivirus-betasatellite complexes, through the betasatellite-encoded protein βC1, suppress auxin-mediated plant growth and salicylic acid (SA)-mediated immunity. βC1 interacts with and prevents the degradation of plant IAA16 by blocking ATL52-mediated ubiquitination. IAA16 functions as a negative regulator of both auxin and SA signaling pathways. IAA16 interacts with OBP4 to promote the transcription of the SA-signaling repressor NPR3. Notably, regulation of auxin and SA signaling by IAA16, as well as viral manipulation of IAA16 stability, appears to be conserved, as they were documented in tomato plants. Together, our study of viral action on IAA16 reveals a negative regulator of both plant growth and immunity. These findings open fresh avenues for understanding viral manipulation of plant growth and immunity and suggest potential targets for crop improvement.
Species Mentioned
The tomato is a plant whose fruit is an edible berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originated from western South America, and may have been domesticated there, in Mexico, or in Central America. Th...
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