NLR-mediated Resilient Immune responses under Elevated Temperature – NLResET

Plant disease is a major threat to crop production. Plant immune receptors that belong to the nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) family provide effective protection against specific pathogens. However, NLR-mediated immunity is often affected at elevated temperature, which is highly concerning in the context of global warming. Major advances have significantly enhanced our knowledge of how NLRs function and activate immunity, but the mechanisms by which NLR-mediated immunity is inhibited upon an elevation of temperature is not known.
The aim of the NLReSET project is to investigate the impact of temperature on NLR function and identify heat-stable NLR-mediated immune responses to protect plant from disease under warmer temperatures. Disease resistance conferred by the Arabidopsis NLR pair RPS4/RRS1-R is impaired upon an elevation of temperature. We recently identified a thermostable natural pair variant, which creates a unique opportunity to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying NLR thermotolerance. By using the natural diversity of Arabidopsis, we will expand this finding to identify novel thermostable NLR variants.
We also found that immune responses induced by signaling TIR domain isolated from thermosensitive NLRs are intact under elevated temperature. In NLReSET, we will explore whether naturally occurring TIR-containing proteins can be exploited to induce autonomous thermoresilient immune responses.