Origin and evolution of the plant immune system

First author: Guan‐hu Han; Affiliations: Nanjing Normal University (南京师范大学): Nanjing, China

Corresponding author: Guan‐hu Han

Microbes have engaged in antagonistic associations with plants for hundreds of millions of years. Plants, in turn, have evolved diverse immune strategies to combat microbial pathogens. The conflicts between plants and pathogens result in everchanging coevolutionary cycles known as ‘Red Queen’ dynamics. These ancient and ongoing plant–pathogen interactions have shaped the evolution of both plant and pathogen genomes. With the recent explosion of plant genome‐scale data, comparative analyses provide novel insights into the coevolutionary dynamics of plants and pathogens. Here, we discuss the ancient associations between plants and microbes as well as the evolutionary principles underlying plant–pathogen interactions. We synthesize and review the current knowledge on the origin and evolution of key components of the plant immune system. We also highlight the importance of studying algae and nonflowering land plants in understanding the evolution of the plant immune system.

微生物与植物之间的相互拮抗已经持续了数亿年。植物演化出了多种免疫策略阻止微生物的侵染。植物与病原菌之间的矛盾形成了一个不断变化着的共进化循环，叫做“红皇后”动态。这些古老的，并且还在不断演化着的植物-病原菌相互关系同时改变了植物和病原菌的基因组。近来植物基因组的爆发使得研究者能够通过比较基因组来研究植物与病原菌之间的协同演化。作者总结并回顾了现在有关植物免疫系统关键组份的起源和演化的见解。作者还重点突出了对于藻类和非开花植物的研究对于理解植物免疫系统演化的重要性。

The Red Queen Hypothesis: “For an evolutionary system, continuing development is needed just in order to maintain its fitness relative to the systems it is co-evolving with.” --Leigh Van Valen (1973)

通讯：韩管助 (http://sky.njnu.edu.cn/cn/szdw/jsmd)

个人简介：2005-2009年，山东师范大学，生物技术专业，学士；2010-2014年，美国University of Arizona，生态与进化生物学专业，博士。

研究方向：在进化生物学框架下整合了野外采样、进化分析、理论算法开发和分子生物学的方法来研究病原（尤其是病毒）的起源、爆发和进化以及病原与宿主间互作的进化，主要研究方向包括：1）古病毒学和病毒进化；2）新发流行病起源和进化；3）宿主与病原间进化军备竞赛；4）分子进化和进化基因组学。

doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15596

Journal: New Phytologist

First Published: 09 January, 2019