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SUMMARY:Evolution of Receptor Kinases in land plants: from immunity to dev
 elopment - ZMBP\, University of Tübingen
DTSTART:20250513T111500Z
DTEND:20250513T120000Z
UID:TALK232063@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Facundo Romani
DESCRIPTION:Receptor Kinases (RKs) control essential aspects of plant's li
 fe such as plant development or immunity. The largest family of RKs in pla
 nts is the leucine-rich repeat RKs (LRR-RKs)\, which is present in strepto
 phyte algae but expanded in land plants. Ligand perception by LRR-RKs indu
 ces the association with a co-receptor that often belongs to the somatic e
 mbryogenesis RK (SERK) subfamily to activate downstream signaling. Combini
 ng phylogenetic analyses\, structural predictions and functional assays in
  the bryophyte Marchantia polymorpha and the eudicot Arabidopsis thaliana\
 , we discovered that SERKs play conserved molecular functions in developme
 nt but not immunity. Our results indicate that LRR-RK pattern-recognition 
 receptors might require different activation mechanisms in different plant
  lineages. Furthermore\, we showed that mutations in the Marchantia orthol
 ogs of RKs regulating immunity in Arabidopsis trigger an autoimmune respon
 se in Marchantia. These autoimmune mutants exhibited resistance against ba
 cterial and fungal pathogens. Our comparative evolutionary approach highli
 ghts the power of Marchantia genetics to investigate the Evolution of Mole
 cular Plant-Microbe Interactions in land plants.
LOCATION:Large Lecture Theatre\, Botany Building\, Downing Site
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