Publications by authors named "Thomas A DeFalco"

Carbohydrate-based cell wall signaling impacts plant growth, development, and stress responses; however, how cell wall signals are perceived and transduced remains poorly understood. Several cell wall breakdown products have been described as typical damage-associated molecular patterns that activate plant immunity, including pectin-derived oligogalacturonides (OGs). Receptor kinases of the WALL-ASSOCIATED KINASE (WAK) family bind pectin and OGs and were previously proposed as OG receptors.

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Article Synopsis
  • The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is vital for plant immunity, particularly in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, where immune receptors activate key kinases like BIK1 to trigger ROS production.
  • In the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, the study finds that specific members of the RBOH and PBL families are crucial for ROS production in response to chitin.
  • MpPBLa interacts with and phosphorylates MpRBOH1, which is necessary for ROS production, demonstrating a conserved signaling pathway in land plants controlling immune responses.
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Auxin efflux through plasma-membrane-integral PIN-FORMED (PIN) carriers is essential for plant tissue organization and tightly regulated. For instance, a molecular rheostat critically controls PIN-mediated auxin transport in developing protophloem sieve elements of Arabidopsis roots. Plasma-membrane-association of the rheostat proteins, BREVIS RADIX (BRX) and PROTEIN KINASE ASSOCIATED WITH BRX (PAX), is reinforced by interaction with PHOSPHATIDYLINOSITOL-4-PHOSPHATE-5-KINASE (PIP5K).

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Plant immunity is tightly controlled by a complex and dynamic regulatory network, which ensures optimal activation upon detection of potential pathogens. Accordingly, each component of this network is a potential target for manipulation by pathogens. Here, we report that RipAC, a type III-secreted effector from the bacterial pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum, targets the plant E3 ubiquitin ligase PUB4 to inhibit pattern-triggered immunity (PTI).

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A signaling complex comprising members of the LORELEI (LRE)-LIKE GPI-anchored protein (LLG) and Catharanthus roseus RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE 1-LIKE (CrRLK1L) families perceive RAPID ALKALINIZATION FACTOR (RALF) peptides and regulate growth, reproduction, immunity, and stress responses in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Genes encoding these proteins are members of multigene families in most angiosperms and could generate thousands of signaling complex variants. However, the links between expansion of these gene families and the functional diversification of this critical signaling complex as well as the evolutionary factors underlying the maintenance of gene duplicates remain unknown.

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Calcium ions function as a key second messenger ion in eukaryotes. Spatially and temporally defined cytoplasmic Ca signals are shaped through the concerted activity of ion channels, exchangers, and pumps in response to diverse stimuli; these signals are then decoded through the activity of Ca -binding sensor proteins. In plants, Ca signaling is central to both pattern- and effector-triggered immunity, with the generation of characteristic cytoplasmic Ca elevations in response to potential pathogens being common to both.

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Article Synopsis
  • Ligand recognition by cell-surface receptors is essential for both immunity and development in plants and animals, but how this signaling is regulated remains unclear.* -
  • This study reveals that plant receptors for pathogens and developmental peptides share a common regulatory module involving type-2C protein phosphatases that dampen signaling in the absence of ligands.* -
  • Upon ligand binding, these receptors activate unique kinases that subsequently phosphorylate phosphatases, enhancing receptor signaling and highlighting a shared regulatory circuit for immune and developmental processes in plants.*
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Spatial partitioning is a propensity of biological systems orchestrating cell activities in space and time. The dynamic regulation of plasma membrane nano-environments has recently emerged as a key fundamental aspect of plant signaling, but the molecular components governing it are still mostly unclear. The receptor kinase FERONIA (FER) controls ligand-induced complex formation of the immune receptor kinase FLAGELLIN SENSING 2 (FLS2) with its co-receptor BRASSINOSTEROID-INSENSITIVE 1-ASSOCIATED KINASE 1 (BAK1), and perception of the endogenous peptide hormone RAPID ALKALANIZATION FACTOR 23 (RALF23) by FER inhibits immunity.

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Soil availability of inorganic ortho-phosphate (PO, P) is a key determinant of plant growth and fitness. Plants regulate the capacity of their roots to take up inorganic phosphate by adapting the abundance of H-coupled phosphate transporters of the PHOSPHATE TRANSPORTER 1 (PHT1) family at the plasma membrane (PM) through transcriptional and post-translational changes driven by the genetic network of the phosphate starvation response (PSR). Increasing evidence also shows that plants integrate immune responses to alleviate phosphate starvation stress through the association with beneficial microbes.

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Receptor kinases (RKs) are fundamental for extracellular sensing and regulate development and stress responses across kingdoms. In plants, leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases (LRR-RKs) are primarily peptide receptors that regulate responses to myriad internal and external stimuli. Phosphorylation of LRR-RK cytoplasmic domains is among the earliest responses following ligand perception, and reciprocal transphosphorylation between a receptor and its coreceptor is thought to activate the receptor complex.

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Article Synopsis
  • All eukaryotic organisms, including plants and animals, have developed advanced immune systems involving pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) to defend against biotic stresses.
  • Plant PRRs, which are located on cell surfaces, detect specific molecular patterns from microbes or the organism itself to trigger pattern-triggered immunity (PTI), an effective antimicrobial defense strategy.
  • Recent research highlights the importance of PRR complex formation and phosphorylation in activating PTI signaling, and suggests that receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases (RLCKs) play a key role in this signaling pathway following PRR activation.
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  • Stomatal closure in plants is triggered by biotic and abiotic stresses, with calcium ions playing a key role in this response.
  • The Ca-permeable channel OSCA1.3 in Arabidopsis thaliana is identified as crucial for stomatal closure during immune signaling, specifically phosphorylated by the kinase BIK1 upon pathogen detection.
  • OSCA1.3 enhances Ca channel activity through BIK1 phosphorylation, highlighting different mechanisms for Ca influx in response to biotic threats versus the plant hormone abscisic acid associated with abiotic stresses.
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Communication between the gametophytes is vital for angiosperm fertilisation. Multiple CrRLK1L-type receptor kinases prevent premature pollen tube burst, while another CrRLK1L protein, FERONIA (FER), is required for pollen tube reception in the female gametophyte. We report here the identification of two additional CrRLK1L homologues, HERCULES RECEPTOR KINASE 1 (HERK1) and ANJEA (ANJ), which act redundantly to promote pollen tube growth arrest at the synergid cells.

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Receptor kinases of the Catharanthus roseus RLK1-like (CrRLK1L) family have emerged as important regulators of plant reproduction, growth and responses to the environment. Endogenous RAPID ALKALINIZATION FACTOR (RALF) peptides have previously been proposed as ligands for several members of the CrRLK1L family. However, the mechanistic basis of this perception is unknown.

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In Extended Data Fig. 5d of this Letter, the blots for anti-pS612 and anti-BAK1 were inadvertently duplicated. This figure has been corrected online.

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Background: ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (ERF) 8 is a member of one of the largest transcription factor families in plants, the APETALA2/ETHYLENE RESPONSIVE FACTOR (AP2/ERF) superfamily. Members of this superfamily have been implicated in a wide variety of processes such as development and environmental stress responses.

Results: In this study we demonstrated that ERF8 is involved in both ABA and immune signaling.

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