Pathogen‐induced pH changes regulate the growth‐defense balance in plants

First author: Christopher Kesten; Affiliations: ETH Zurich (苏黎世联邦理工学院): Zurich, Switzerland

Corresponding author: Clara Sánchez‐Rodríguez

Environmental adaptation of organisms relies on fast perception and response to external signals, which lead to developmental changes. Plant cell growth is strongly dependent on cell wall remodeling. However, little is known about cell wall‐related sensing of biotic stimuli and the downstream mechanisms that coordinate growth and defense responses. We generated genetically encoded pH sensors to determine absolute pH changes across the plasma membrane in response to biotic stress. A rapid apoplastic acidification by phosphorylation‐based proton pump activation in response to the fungus Fusarium oxysporum immediately reduced cellulose synthesis and cell growth and, furthermore, had a direct influence on the pathogenicity of the fungus. In addition, pH seems to influence cellulose structure. All these effects were dependent on the COMPANION OF CELLULOSE SYNTHASE proteins that are thus at the nexus of plant growth and defense. Hence, our discoveries show a remarkable connection between plant biomass production, immunity, and pH control, and advance our ability to investigate the plant growth‐defense balance.

生物对于环境的适应依赖于快速的感知并响应于外界信号，从而诱导发育的改变。植物的细胞生长十分依赖于细胞壁的重塑。然而，细胞壁相关的生物刺激感知以及下游调控植物生长与防御响应的分子机制还不清楚。作者构建了一个基因编码的pH感受器来检测植物细胞壁质膜响应于生物胁迫时的pH值绝对变化。响应于尖孢镰刀菌，基于磷酸化的质子泵激活会快速酸化质外环境，从而即刻降低纤维素合成和细胞生长；此外，对于真菌的致病性也具有直接的影响。另外，pH值似乎会影响纤维素的结构。所有的这些影响都依赖于COMPANION OF CELLULOSE SYNTHASE蛋白，因此该蛋白是联系植物生长和防御的纽带。本文的研究显示了植物生物量、免疫与pH调控之间的关联，有助于我们深入理解植物生长与防御之间的平衡。

通讯：Clara Sánchez‐Rodríguez（https://impb.ethz.ch/research/research-pcb.html）

研究方向：细胞壁如何感知外界刺激、传递信号并通过重塑以适应压力。

doi: https://doi.org/10.15252/embj.2019101822

Journal: the EMBO Journal

Published date: November 18, 2019