A Phytophthora RxLR effector modulate host immunity by regulating histone acetylation
L. KONG (1), X. Qiu (2), J. Kang (2), Y. Wang (2), M. Qiu (2), Y. Lin (2), G. Kong (2), J. Huang (2), W. Ye (2), Y. Wang (2), S. Dong (2), Y. Wang (2) (1) Plant Pathology Department, Nanjing Agricultural University,Nanjing, China, China; (2) Plant Pathology Department, Nanjing Agricultural University,Nanjing, China, China

Plant pathogens secrete a large number of effector proteins to subvert host cell immunity. However, knowledges of the mechanism how effector proteins manipulate host immunity remain largely unknown. We shows that Avh23, a virulence-essential effector from Phytophthora sojae, a soybean stem and root rot pathogen, interacts with a soybean transcriptional coactivator protein Ada2 (Adaptor 2). Ada2 works collectively with a histone acetyltransferase Gcn5 in a complex to regulate gene activation in a histone acetylation dependant manner. We found that Avh23 strongly bind Ada2 to prevent Ada2 recruitment by Gcn5 acetylation machinery, resulting a significant reduction of histone acetylation in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we demonstrated that the Ada2-Gcn5 complex is involved in plant defense against Phytophthora pathogens. Taken other reports together, plant pathogens may employ effector proteins to interrupt host chromatin modifications as a general virulence strategy.

Abstract Number: P9-269
Session Type: Poster