Abstract

Co-evolution between cereals and pathogenic grass powdery mildew fungi is exemplified by sequence diversification of an allelic series of barley resistance genes encoding Mildew Locus A (MLA) nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) immunoreceptors with an N-terminal coiled-coil domain (CNLs). Each immunoreceptor recognises a matching, strain-specific powdery mildew effector encoded by an avirulence gene (AVR_a). We present here the cryo-EM structure of barley MLA13 in complex with its cognate effector AVR_A13-1. The effector adopts an RNase-like fold when bound to MLA13 in planta, similar to crystal structures of other RNase-like AVR_A effectors unbound to receptors. AVR_A13-1 interacts via its basal loops with MLA13 C-terminal leucine-rich repeats (LRRs) and the central winged helix domain (WHD). Co-expression of structure-guided MLA13 and AVR_A13-1 substitution variants show that the receptor-effector interface plays an essential role in mediating immunity-associated plant cell death. Furthermore, by combining structural information from the MLA13-AVR_A13-1 heterocomplex with sequence alignments of other MLA receptors, we engineered a single amino acid substitution in MLA7 that enables expanded effector detection of AVR_A13-1 and the virulent variant AVR_A13-V2. In contrast to the pentameric conformation of previously reported effector-activated CNL resistosomes, MLA13 was purified and resolved as a stable heterodimer from an in planta expression system. Our study suggests a common structural principle for RNase-like effector binding to MLAs and highlights the utility of structure-guided engineering of plant immune receptors for broadening their pathogen effector recognition capabilities.

Read more at EMBO J. 2025 Feb 13.