Re-localization of a repeat-containing fungal effector by apoplastic protein Chitinase-like 1 blocks its toxicity

作者：Hanqiao Liu, Wenshu Zhang, Qian He, Reyila Aikemu, Huijuan Xu, Zhan Guo, Lu Wang, Weixi Li, Guilin Wang, Xinyu Wang, Wangzhen Guo · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-024-54470-0 · 被引用次数：21 · 研究领域：Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity、Nematode management and characterization studies、Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions

A fungal effector that is toxic to plant cells was identified in Verticillium dahliae. The effector contains a non-canonical Common in several Fungal Extracellular Membrane proteins (CFEM) domain, a tandem repeat region consisting of four 14-amino acid repeats rich in proline, and a C-terminal region, thus is designated V. dahliae tetrapeptide repeat protein (VdTRP). The membrane targeting of VdTRP is vital for its cell toxicity. CFEM mediates the membrane targeting and the tandem repeat region exerts the toxic function upon cell membrane. The chitinase-like 1 (CTL1), an essential apoplastic protein of cotton, can redirect VdTRP from cell membrane to apoplast. Transgenic cotton overexpressing CTL1 greatly enhances cotton resistance to V. dahliae without affecting cotton growth and development, implicating its potential application in breeding cotton with high wilt resistance. Our data demonstrates that genetic manipulation of effector target constitutes potential strategy for improving crop resistance to fungal pathogens. A toxin identified in Verticillium dahliae, VdTRP, damages cell membranes and causes rapid cell death. As defense, cotton uses chitinase-like 1, a cell wall protein, to keep VdTRP in the apoplastic space and reduce its toxicity to plant cells.