Article
- The EMBO Journal (2004) 23, 3072 - 3082
- doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7600283
Published online: 22 July 2004
Subject Categories:
MAPKKK
is a positive regulator of cell death associated with both plant immunity and disease
Olga del Pozo1, Kerry F Pedley1 and Gregory B Martin1,2
- Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Correspondence to:
Gregory B Martin, BTI, Tower Rd, Ithaca, NY 14853-1801, USA. Tel.: +1 607 254 1208; Fax: +1 607 255 6695; E-mail: gbm7@cornell.edu
Received 24 March 2004; Accepted 28 May 2004
Abstract
Many plant pathogens cause disease symptoms that manifest over days as regions of localized cell death. Localized cell death (the hypersensitive response; HR) also occurs in disease-resistant plants, but this response appears within hours of attempted infection and may restrict further pathogen growth. We identified a MAP kinase kinase kinase gene (MAPKKK
) that is required for the HR and resistance against Pseudomonas syringae. Significantly, we found that MAPKKK also regulates cell death in susceptible leaves undergoing P. syringae infection. Overexpression of MAPKKK in leaves activated MAPKs and caused pathogen-independent cell death. By overexpressing MAPKKK in leaves and suppressing expression of various MAPKK and MAPK genes by virus-induced gene silencing, we identified two distinct MAPK cascades that act downstream of MAPKKK. These results demonstrate that signal transduction pathways associated with both plant immunity and disease susceptibility share a common molecular switch.
Keywords:
- disease,
- immunity,
- MAPKKK,
- programmed cell death (PCD),
- virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS)
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