XEGL1, a bidirectional decoy of Phytophthora sojae, safeguards the virulence function of XEG1 from interference in soybean
Z. MA (1), L. Zhu (1), T. Song (2), Y. Wang (1), Q. Zhang (1), Y. Xia (1), M. Qiu (1), Y. Lin (1), H. Li (1), W. Ye (1), Y. Wang (1), S. Dong (1), Y. Wang (1) (1) Nanjing agricultural university, China; (2) Jiangsu Academy of agricultural sciences, China

Co-evolutionary struggle between plant pathogens and their hosts for dominance in the apoplastic battleground drives diversification of microbial invasion strategies and plant counter-defence mechanisms. An intriguing range of attacking enzymes and counteracting inhibitors take part in apoplastic plant immunity and its modulation. We recently reported the glycoside hydrolase 12 (GH12) protein XEG1 identified from the soybean root rot pathogen Phytophthora sojae are essential for Phytophthora virulence. Here, we describe how a XEG1-like family protein XEGL1 from P. sojae safeguards XEG1 to modulate soybean apoplastic immunity initiated by xyloglucan-speci?c endo-β-1,4-glucanase inhibitor protein XEGIP1 from soybean (Glycine max). We found XEGIP1 interacts with XEG1 and limits the growth of P. sojae by reducing the hydrolytic activity of XEG1 in soybean. Meanwhile, XEGL1 competes with XEG1 for binding to XEGIP1 and promotes in planta growth of P. sojae. Genetically, XEG1 and XEGL1 reside on the same genetic locus, and share a bidirectional promoter, which is widely distributed across organisms, indicating a conserved functional in gene pair. Therefore, our data suggest, XEGL1, a bidirectional decoy, represents a hidden common genomic signature, by which organisms safeguard the dominant protein function from interference.

Abstract Number: P17-567
Session Type: Poster