A wheat tandem kinase activates an NLR to trigger immunity

Renjie Chen; Jian Chen; Oliver R. Powell; Megan A. Outram; Taj Arndell; Karthick Gajendiran; Yan L. Wang; Jibril Lubega; Yang Xu; Michael A. Ayliffe; Cheryl Blundell; Melania Figueroa; Jana Sperschneider; Thomas Vanhercke; Kostya Kanyuka; Dingzhong Tang; Guitao Zhong; Catherine Gardener; Guotai Yu; Spyridon Gourdoupis; Łukasz Jaremko; Oadi Matny; Brian J. Steffenson; Willem H.P. Boshoff; Wilku B. Meyer; Stefan T. Arold; Peter N. Dodds; Brande B.H. Wulff

doi:10.1126/science.adp5034

A wheat tandem kinase activates an NLR to trigger immunity

Renjie Chen
, Jian Chen
, Oliver R. Powell
, Megan A. Outram
, Taj Arndell
, Karthick Gajendiran
, Yan L. Wang
, Jibril Lubega
, Yang Xu
, Michael A. Ayliffe
, Cheryl Blundell
, Melania Figueroa
, Jana Sperschneider
, Thomas Vanhercke
, Kostya Kanyuka
, Dingzhong Tang
, Guitao Zhong
, Catherine Gardener
, Guotai Yu
, Spyridon Gourdoupis

Łukasz Jaremko, Oadi Matny, Brian J. Steffenson, Willem H.P. Boshoff, Wilku B. Meyer, Stefan T. Arold, Peter N. Dodds, Brande B.H. Wulff

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

The role of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors in plant immunity is well studied, but the function of a class of tandem kinases (TKs) that confer disease resistance in wheat and barley remains unclear. In this study, we show that the SR62 locus is a digenic module encoding the Sr62^TK TK and an NLR (Sr62^NLR), and we identify the corresponding AvrSr62 effector. AvrSr62 binds to the N-terminal kinase 1 of Sr62^TK, triggering displacement of kinase 2, which activates Sr62^NLR. Modeling and mutation analysis indicated that this is mediated by overlapping binding sites (i) on kinase 1 for binding AvrSr62 and kinase 2 and (ii) on kinase 2 for binding kinase 1 and Sr62^NLR. Understanding this two-component resistance complex may help engineering and breeding plants for durable resistance.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1402-1408
Number of pages	7
Journal	Science
Volume	387
Issue number	6741
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp5034
State	Published - Mar 28 2025
Externally published	Yes

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Chen, R., Chen, J., Powell, O. R., Outram, M. A., Arndell, T., Gajendiran, K., Wang, Y. L., Lubega, J., Xu, Y., Ayliffe, M. A., Blundell, C., Figueroa, M., Sperschneider, J., Vanhercke, T., Kanyuka, K., Tang, D., Zhong, G., Gardener, C., Yu, G., ... Wulff, B. B. H. (2025). A wheat tandem kinase activates an NLR to trigger immunity. Science, 387(6741), 1402-1408. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp5034

Chen, R, Chen, J, Powell, OR, Outram, MA, Arndell, T, Gajendiran, K, Wang, YL, Lubega, J, Xu, Y, Ayliffe, MA, Blundell, C, Figueroa, M, Sperschneider, J, Vanhercke, T, Kanyuka, K, Tang, D, Zhong, G, Gardener, C, Yu, G, Gourdoupis, S, Jaremko, Ł, Matny, O, Steffenson, BJ, Boshoff, WHP, Meyer, WB, Arold, ST, Dodds, PN & Wulff, BBH 2025, 'A wheat tandem kinase activates an NLR to trigger immunity', Science, vol. 387, no. 6741, pp. 1402-1408. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp5034

@article{94af3811cca3477b8059bb482db12a42,

title = "A wheat tandem kinase activates an NLR to trigger immunity",

abstract = "The role of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors in plant immunity is well studied, but the function of a class of tandem kinases (TKs) that confer disease resistance in wheat and barley remains unclear. In this study, we show that the SR62 locus is a digenic module encoding the Sr62TK TK and an NLR (Sr62NLR), and we identify the corresponding AvrSr62 effector. AvrSr62 binds to the N-terminal kinase 1 of Sr62TK, triggering displacement of kinase 2, which activates Sr62NLR. Modeling and mutation analysis indicated that this is mediated by overlapping binding sites (i) on kinase 1 for binding AvrSr62 and kinase 2 and (ii) on kinase 2 for binding kinase 1 and Sr62NLR. Understanding this two-component resistance complex may help engineering and breeding plants for durable resistance.",

author = "Renjie Chen and Jian Chen and Powell, \{Oliver R.\} and Outram, \{Megan A.\} and Taj Arndell and Karthick Gajendiran and Wang, \{Yan L.\} and Jibril Lubega and Yang Xu and Ayliffe, \{Michael A.\} and Cheryl Blundell and Melania Figueroa and Jana Sperschneider and Thomas Vanhercke and Kostya Kanyuka and Dingzhong Tang and Guitao Zhong and Catherine Gardener and Guotai Yu and Spyridon Gourdoupis and {\L}ukasz Jaremko and Oadi Matny and Steffenson, \{Brian J.\} and Boshoff, \{Willem H.P.\} and Meyer, \{Wilku B.\} and Arold, \{Stefan T.\} and Dodds, \{Peter N.\} and Wulff, \{Brande B.H.\}",

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year = "2025",

month = mar,

day = "28",

doi = "10.1126/science.adp5034",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "387",

pages = "1402--1408",

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AU - Chen, Renjie

AU - Chen, Jian

AU - Powell, Oliver R.

AU - Outram, Megan A.

AU - Arndell, Taj

AU - Gajendiran, Karthick

AU - Wang, Yan L.

AU - Lubega, Jibril

AU - Xu, Yang

AU - Ayliffe, Michael A.

AU - Blundell, Cheryl

AU - Figueroa, Melania

AU - Sperschneider, Jana

AU - Vanhercke, Thomas

AU - Kanyuka, Kostya

AU - Tang, Dingzhong

AU - Zhong, Guitao

AU - Gardener, Catherine

AU - Yu, Guotai

AU - Gourdoupis, Spyridon

AU - Jaremko, Łukasz

AU - Matny, Oadi

AU - Steffenson, Brian J.

AU - Boshoff, Willem H.P.

AU - Meyer, Wilku B.

AU - Arold, Stefan T.

AU - Dodds, Peter N.

AU - Wulff, Brande B.H.

PY - 2025/3/28

Y1 - 2025/3/28

N2 - The role of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors in plant immunity is well studied, but the function of a class of tandem kinases (TKs) that confer disease resistance in wheat and barley remains unclear. In this study, we show that the SR62 locus is a digenic module encoding the Sr62TK TK and an NLR (Sr62NLR), and we identify the corresponding AvrSr62 effector. AvrSr62 binds to the N-terminal kinase 1 of Sr62TK, triggering displacement of kinase 2, which activates Sr62NLR. Modeling and mutation analysis indicated that this is mediated by overlapping binding sites (i) on kinase 1 for binding AvrSr62 and kinase 2 and (ii) on kinase 2 for binding kinase 1 and Sr62NLR. Understanding this two-component resistance complex may help engineering and breeding plants for durable resistance.

AB - The role of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors in plant immunity is well studied, but the function of a class of tandem kinases (TKs) that confer disease resistance in wheat and barley remains unclear. In this study, we show that the SR62 locus is a digenic module encoding the Sr62TK TK and an NLR (Sr62NLR), and we identify the corresponding AvrSr62 effector. AvrSr62 binds to the N-terminal kinase 1 of Sr62TK, triggering displacement of kinase 2, which activates Sr62NLR. Modeling and mutation analysis indicated that this is mediated by overlapping binding sites (i) on kinase 1 for binding AvrSr62 and kinase 2 and (ii) on kinase 2 for binding kinase 1 and Sr62NLR. Understanding this two-component resistance complex may help engineering and breeding plants for durable resistance.

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UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105002361222#tab=citedBy

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AN - SCOPUS:105002361222

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 387

SP - 1402

EP - 1408

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6741

ER -

A wheat tandem kinase activates an NLR to trigger immunity

Abstract

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