J Integr Plant Biol

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  • 收稿日期:2025-02-20 接受日期:2025-08-24

A GmNRF5a–GmCERK1–GmCAK1 module mediates chitin/chitosan-triggered immune response in soybean

Guangzheng Sun1,2,5, Jun Chen1,2, Tang Li3, Qinsheng Zhu1,2, Xinrui Li1,2, Xuan Mi1,2, Wenxia Wang3, Zhichao Zhang1,2, Keyi Huang1,2, Ruoting Yao1,2, Bo Yang1,2, Wenwu Ye1,2, Kaixuan Duan1,2, Zhenchuan Ma1,2, Ke Yu4, Yiming Wang1,2, Suomeng Dong1,2, Yan Wang1,2, Heng Yin3* and Yuanchao Wang1,2*   

  1. 1. Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
    2. Key Laboratory of Soybean Disease and Pest Control (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs), Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
    3. Suzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Suzhou 234000, China
    4. Dalian Engineering Research Center for Carbohydrate Agricultural Preparations, Dalian Technology Innovation Center for Green Agriculture, Liaoning Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbohydrates, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China
    5. State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, Henan Joint International Laboratory for Crop Multi‐Omics Research, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China

    *Correspondences: Heng Yin (yinheng@dicp.ac.cn); Yuanchao Wang (wangyc@njau.edu.cn, Dr. Wang is fully responsible for the distribution of all materials associated with this article in the manuscript)
  • Received:2025-02-20 Accepted:2025-08-24
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFF1001500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32102233 to G.S., Grant No. 31971217 to H.Y.), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2024T170421, G.S.), the Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent (Grant No. 2023ZB236, G.S.), the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF (Grant No. GZC20231129, G.S.), and the Key Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2022B0202080004).

Abstract: Chitin and its deacetylated derivative chitosan are the major components of fungal cell walls and are recognized by plant pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) as pathogen-associated molecular patterns that induce innate immunity. Recognition of chitin oligosaccharide (CTOS) in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice (Oryza sativa) requires the membrane-localized lysin-motif (LysM)-domain-containing receptors AtLYK5 and OsCEBiP, respectively. However, the mechanism underlying chitosan oligosaccharide (CSOS)-induced plant immunity remains unclear. In this study, we determined that CTOS and CSOS trigger immune responses and boost disease resistance in soybean (Glycine max) through the LysM-domain-containing protein GmNRF5a and its co-receptor GmCERK1. Surprisingly, both GmNFR5a and GmCERK1 bind directly to CTOS and CSOS, with distinct binding sites. The receptor-like kinase GmCAK1 acts downstream of GmCERK1 and is essential for CTOS/CSOS-mediated immune activation. Overall, these findings uncovered how soybean plants respond to CSOS and initiate immune signaling, demonstrating that soybean exploits shared immune sectors to transduce immune signals triggered by CTOS/CSOS, paving the way for the development of disease-resistant crops with broad-spectrum resistance.

Key words: CERK1‐associated kinase 1 (CAK1), CHITIN ELIC-ITOR RECEPTOR KINASE1 (CERK1), chitin oligosaccharide (CTOS), chitosan oligosaccharide (CSOS), NOD factor receptor protein 5a (NFR5a), soybean

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