Functional analysis of Arabidopsis LysM-RLKs and related kinases in chitin perception and defense signaling

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Volker Lipka
• Subject Area: Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems ; Plant Cell and Developmental Biology
• Term: from 2012 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 214362899

In plants, many key processes such as development, reproduction, hormone signaling and defense against pathogens are regulated by receptor-like kinases (RLKs). It is becoming increasingly evident that plant transmembrane receptors are highly complex heteromers, consisting of a number of different RLKs as well as receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases (RLCKs). In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the plasma-membrane localised LysM-RLK CERK1 mediates perception of the fungal PAMP chitin (and a yet unidentified bacterial danger signal) and subsequent activation of plant defence. This project focuses on the functional analysis of two other LysM-RLKs, LysM-RLK3 & 4, and a novel RLCK, CIR1, which we identified as potential heteromeric receptor complex partners of CERK1. We propose to analyse the role of LysM-RLK3, LysM-RLK4 and CIR1 in chitin signalling and other CERK1-mediated processes, to validate their interaction with CERK1 in planta and to study their subcellular localisation behaviour in response to elicitor treatment and pathogen attack. We expect novel mechanistic insights into PAMP-induced receptor complex formation, signalling and desensitization, as well as pathogen-induced cell polarization and dynamic protein trafficking that will extend our understanding of plant innate immunity.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Dr. Elena Petutschnig