Hasegawa K, Timmers T, Chai J, Maekawa T. A disease resistance assay in Nicotiana benthamiana reveals the immune function of Response to HopBA1. Plant Physiol. 2024 Oct 1;196(2):722-725. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiae368. PMID: 38976586; PMCID: PMC11444287.

Shen Q, Hasegawa K, Oelerich N, Prakken A, Tersch LW, Wang J, Reichhardt F, Tersch A, Choo JC, Timmers T, Hofmann K, Parker JE, Chai J, Maekawa T. Cytoplasmic calcium influx mediated by plant MLKLs confers TNL-triggered immunity. Cell Host Microbe. 2024 Mar 13:S1931-3128(24)00059-3. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2024.02.016. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38513655.

Former participating Project Leader:

Jijie Chai
Institute for Biochemistry, University of Cologne 

Former abstract:

The discovery of a new protein family in seed plants that is structurally and functionally homologous to animal Mixed lineage kinase domain-like (MLKL) protein, the executioner of necroptosis in animal cells, provided evidence that similar mechanisms may induce plasma membrane permeabilisation in plants and animals. This project aims to understand the molecular principles of MLKL-mediated cell death and immunity by determining and comparing the nanoscale organisation and cellular dynamics of this protein family in plant and animal cells.

Crean, E.E., Bilstein-Schloemer, M., Maekawa, T., Schulze-Lefert, P. and Saur, I.M.L. (2023) A dominant-negative avirulence effector of the barley powdery mildew fungus provides mechanistic insight to barley MLA immune receptor activation. J Exp Bot. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erad285

Maekawa, T., Kashkar, H. & Coll, N.S. Dying in self-defence: a comparative overview of immunogenic cell death signalling in animals and plants. Cell Death Differ (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41418-022-01060-6 (review)

Xu, L., Wang, J., Xiao, Y., Han, Z., Chai, J. (2022) Structural insight into chitin perceptionby chitin elicitor receptor kinase 1 of Oryza sativa. J Integr Plant Biol. 2022 May 14. doi: 10.1111/jipb.1327

Bauer, S., Yu, D., Lawson, A.W., Saur, I.M.L., Frantzeskakis, L., Kracher, B., Logemann, E., Chai, J., Maekawa, T., Schulze-Lefert, P. (2021) The leucine-rich repeats in allelic barley MLA immune receptors define specificity towards sequence-unrelated powdery mildew avirulence effectors with a predicted common RNase-like fold. PLoS Pathog 17(2): e1009223. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1009223

Mahdi, L.K., Huang, M., Zhang, X., Nakano, R.T., Kopp, L.B., Saur, I.M.L., Jacob, F., Kovacova, V., Lapin, D., Parker, J.E., Murphy, J.M., Hofmann, K., Schulze-Lefert, P., Chai, J., Maekawa, T. (2020) Discovery of a Family of Mixed Lineage Kinase Domain-like Proteins in Plants and Their Role in Innate Immune Signaling.Cell Host & Microbe https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2020.08.012

Wang, J., Hu, M., Wang, J., Qi, J., Han, Z., Wang, G., Qi, Y., Wang, H.W., Zhou., J.M., and Chai, J. (2019). Reconstitution and structure of a plant NLR resistosome conferring immunity. Science.364, pii: eaav5870.

Danial, J.S.H., and Garcia-Saez, A.J. (2019) Quantitative analysis of super-resolved structures using ASAP. Nat Methods (accepted)

Jacob, F., Kracher, B., Mine, A., Seyfferth C., Blanvillain-Baufumé., S., Parker, J.E., Tsuda, K., Schulze-Lefert, P.*, and Maekawa, T.* (2018). A dominant-interfering camta3 mutation compromises primary transcriptional outputs mediated by both cell surface and intracellular immune receptors in Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytol. 217, 1667-1680. *Co-corresponding authors.

Ros, U., Peña-Blanco, A., Hänggi, K., Kunzendorf, U., Krautwald, S., Wong, W.W.-L., and Garcia-Saez, A.J. (2017). Necroptosis execution is mediated by plasma membrane nanopores independent of calcium. Cell Rep. 19, 175-187.

Salvador-Gallego, R., Mund, M., Cosentino, K., Schneider, J., Unsay, J., Schraermeyer, U., Engelhardt, J., Ries, J.*, and Garcia-Saez, A.J.* (2016). Bax assembly into rings and arcs in apoptotic mitochondria is linked to membrane pores. EMBO J. 35, 389-401.  * Co-corresponding author.

Hu, Z., Zhou, Q., Zhang, C., Fan, S., Cheng, W., Zhao, Y., Shao, F., Wang, H.W., Sui, S.F., and Chai, J. (2015). Structural and Biochemical Basis for Induced Self-propagation of a NOD-like Receptor. Science 350, 399-404.

Subburaj, Y., Cosentino, K., Axmann, M., Pedrueza-Villalmanzo, E., Hermann, E., Bleicken, S., Spatz, J., and Garcia-Saez, A.J. (2015). Bax monomers form dimer units in the membrane that further self-assemble into multiple oligomeric species. Nat. Commun. 6, 8042.

Hao W, Collier SM, Moffett P, and Chai J. (2013) Structural basis for the interaction between the potato virus X resistance protein (Rx) and its cofactor Ran GTPase-activating protein 2 (RanGAP2). J Biol Chem. 13, 35868-35876.

Maekawa, T., Cheng, W., Spiridon, L.N., Töller, A., Lukasik, E., Saijo, Y., Liu, P., Shen, Q.H., Micluta, M.A., Somssich, I.E., Takken, F.L., Petrescu, A.J., Chai, J*., and Schulze-Lefert, P*. (2011). Coiled-coil domain-dependent homodimerization of intracellular barley immune receptors defines a minimal functional module for triggering cell death. Cell Host Microbe 9, 187-199.  * Co-corresponding author.

Mahdi,L.K., Huang, M., Zhang, X., Nakano R.-T., Kopp, L.B., Saur, I. M.-L., Jacob, F., Kovacova, V.,  Lapin, D., , Murphy, J., Parker, J., Hofmann, K., Schulze-Lefert. P, Chai. J., and T. Maekawa (2019). Plant mixed lineage kinase domain-like proteins limit biotrophic pathogen growth, BioRxiv doi: doi.org/10.1101/681015