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SUMMARY:Plants perceive quinones via receptor-like kinases - Dr. Anuphon L
 aohavisit\, Plant Immunity Research Group\, RIKEN Centre for Sustainable R
 esource Science\, Kanagawa\, Japan
DTSTART:20190705T090000Z
DTEND:20190705T100000Z
UID:TALK127003@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:81370
DESCRIPTION:Plants\, as sessile organisms\, rapidly sense\, transduce and 
 respond to different substances. While quinone-derived compounds are produ
 ced ubiquitiously in the environment across all kingdoms\, with plants as 
 the primary producers\, they are often neglected in plant signalling resea
 rch. Quinone-sensing components are well-studied in bacteria (e.g. YodB) a
 nd animals (e.g Nrf2/Keap1)\, but no molecular components have yet been pr
 esented in plants. One well-studied response in plants is the formation of
  the haustorium\, a feeding structure in Orobanchaceae parasitic plants\, 
 upon sensing 2\,6 dimethoxy-1\,4-benzoquinone (DMBQ)\, which was isolated 
 from sorghum root extract. However\, elucidating the molecular mechanism o
 f DMBQ perception in parasitic plants is challenging since key research to
 ols are limited. Furthermore\, the role of quinones as signals in non-para
 sitic plants is enigmatic since they do not form haustoria. Here we used D
 MBQ and Arabidopsis\, as a model quinone and plant respectively\, and show
 ed that DMBQ induces various hallmarks of a signalling event in Arabidopsi
 s at low-micromolar concentrations. In search for its cognate receptor\, a
  forward genetic screen\, using calcium reporters\, was employed and 13 mu
 tants were obtained and designated as CAnnot Respond to DMBQ 1 (card1) mut
 ants. Genetic analysis and next-generation sequencing revealed that all 13
  card1 mutants contain mutations in a single locus. CARD1 encodes an uncha
 racterised receptor-like kinase\, whose homologues are present throughout 
 land plant lineages. DMBQ induces a unique set of transcripts which is abs
 ent in card1 mutants. Furthermore\, different types of quinones are capabl
 e of inducing [Ca2+]cyt increases in Arabidopsis at nanomolar concentratio
 ns and are CARD1 dependent\, suggesting that quinones are bona fide signal
 ling agents which are perceived by CARD1. The role of quinones and CARD1 i
 n non-parasitic plants\, with respect to parasitic plants\, and possible s
 ensing mechanisms\, will be shown and discussed. Altogether\, this work pa
 ves the way to further unravel the importance of quinones as signalling ag
 ents and CARD1 functions in plants. 
LOCATION:Tom ap Rees\, Department of Plant Sciences
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