
Research Sheds Light on Key Component of Plant Immune Systems
August 28, 2019A team of biologists has shed new light on a crucial aspect of the plant immune response, revealing how plant resistance proteins trigger localized cell death. The results of their study could lead to new strategies for engineering disease resistance in next-generation crops.
The researchers identified the mechanism of one little-understood domain of plant resistance proteins called a "toll-interleukin-1 receptor," or TIR domain. They showed that during plant immune response, the TIR domain degrades a molecule called NAD+, which is essential for metabolism in all organisms. By cleaving NAD+, the plant self-destructs infected cells while leaving others unharmed.
"For 25 years, we didn't know what TIR domains did in plants. So these results were very interesting in terms of advancing our understanding of how TIR domains actually trigger immunity," said Colorado State University Assistant Professor of Biology Marc Nishimura, who is also the research team leader.
For more details, read the news release in the Colorado State University website.
You might also like:
- Two Studies Reveal Steps in Plant Immune Receptor Activation
- International Research Team Discovers Important Mechanism in Plant Immunity
- Blueprint for Plant's Immune Response has been Found
The Crop Biotech Update is a weekly newsletter of ISAAA, a not-for-profit organization. The CBU is distributed for free to over 23,000 subscribers worldwide to inform them about the key developments in biosciences, especially in agricultural biotechnology. Your support will help us in our mission to feed the world with knowledge. You can help by donating as little as $10.
-
See more articles:
-
News from Around the World
- Major GM Crops Hit Saturation Point in Biggest Markets, ISAAA Reports
- GM Crop Adoption Continues to Move Forward in Africa
- BASF Launches Herbicide Tolerant Stacked Traits Soybeans
- 'Spread the Gospel of Biotech' - PH Agriculture Official
- Mainland South Australia to Lift GMO Ban
- Research Finds How Plants Measure CO2 Uptake
-
Research Highlights
- Scientists Complete High-resolution 3D Genome Map of Rice
- Research Sheds Light on Key Component of Plant Immune Systems
-
Plant Breeding Innovations
- Classification of Genome-edited Plants Define How They Are Regulated
- Rain-resistant Wheat Developed Using Genome Editing
-
Read the latest: - Crop Biotech Update (January 25, 2023)
- Genome Editing Supplement (January 18, 2023)
- Gene Drive Supplement (January 25, 2023)
-
Subscribe to CBU: - Share
- Tweet