Fine tuning plant innate immunity
B. BAKER (1) (1) UC Berkeley, U.S.A.

Plants rely on a recognition-based innate immune system for protection from pathogen disease. Families of resistance (R) genes encode immune receptors (R proteins) that recognize pathogen effectors and trigger rapid resistance responses including the cell death hypersensitive response (HR). Normal plant growth depends on the repression of resistance responses in healthy plants. However, when pathogens are sensed, rapid induction of resistance responses is required for effective plant protection. We identified a novel mode of microRNA silencing that potentially contributes to the dynamic regulation of R-genes and pathogen resistance in both healthy and pathogen challenged plants. This mode of silencing is hypothesized to maintain low levels of innate immune gene expression in healthy plants whereas in pathogen challenged plants, suppression of silencing can lead to increased gene expression and enhanced defense responses. An understanding of silencing mechanisms that regulate innate immunity will allow for fine-tuning of host defense in both healthy and pathogen challenged plants.

Abstract Number: P3-1
Session Type: Plenary