J Integr Plant Biol.

• Research Article • Previous Articles    

OsPRMT5 methylates OsPAL1 to promote rice resistance, hindered by a Xanthomonas oryzae effector

Cong Sheng1, Kaihuai Li2, Bo Wang1,3, Wenchan Chen1,4, Baodian Guo1, Lulu Qiao5, Hongwei Zhao6, Yancun Zhao1* and Fengquan Liu1,2*   

  1. 1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Food Quality and Safety, State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base, Ministry of Science and Technology, Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
    2. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
    3. Department of Plant Pathology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
    4. College of Plant Protection, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
    5. State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
    6. Department of Plant Pathology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China

    *Correspondences: Yancun Zhao (zhaoyc27@126.com); Fengquan Liu (fqliu20011@sina.com, Dr. Liu is fully responsible for the distribution of all materials associated with this article)
  • Received:2024-09-20 Accepted:2025-02-11 Online:2025-03-24
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (32072379) to F.L. and Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent (2023ZB136) to C.S. and the Basal Research Fund for the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (ZX(23)3016, ZX(24)3014).

Abstract: Rice bacterial blight, caused by the pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), poses a significant threat to rice crops. Arginine methylation, a post-translational modification of proteins, plays a pivotal role in transcriptional regulation, RNA processing, and the biosynthesis of plant hormones. Previous research has established that protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) significantly influence protein function through arginine methylation. Nonetheless, the specific role of PRMT5 in regulating salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis and plant immunity has been relatively unexplored. In this study, we elucidate the role of a rice protein arginine methyltransferase, OsPRMT5, in enhancing rice resistance to Xoo infection by interacting with the SA biosynthesis enzyme phenylalanine ammonia lyase 1 in rice (OsPAL1). Our results indicate that OsPRMT5 methylates OsPAL1 at the arginine residue 75, which affects the interaction between OsPRMT5 and OsPAL1 and subsequently boosts phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) enzyme activity, leading to heightened SA accumulation. Conversely, compared to OsPAL1 overexpression plants in wild-type TP309 background, OsPAL1 overexpression plants in osprmt5 knockout (KO) mutants background exhibited diminished PAL activity. Furthermore, osprmt5 ospal1 double mutants demonstrated reduced resistance to bacterial blight compared to the OsPAL1-KO group. Additionally, we discovered that the Xoo effector protein PXO_01039 undermines the interaction between OsPRMT5 and OsPAL1, thereby facilitating Xoo infection. PXO_01039 binds to OsPRMT5, preventing the formation of the OsPRMT5-OsPAL1 complex, which results in decreased PAL activity and lower SA accumulation. In conclusion, our findings unveil how OsPRMT5 modulates the methylation and enzymatic activity of OsPAL1, a crucial enzyme in SA biosynthesis, to bolster plant antibacterial defenses.

Key words: effector, OsPAL1, OsPRMT5, protein arginine methylation, rice bacterial blight, SA

Editorial Office, Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, Institute of Botany, CAS
No. 20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, China
Tel: +86 10 6283 6133 Fax: +86 10 8259 2636 E-mail: jipb@ibcas.ac.cn
Copyright © 2022 by the Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Online ISSN: 1744-7909 Print ISSN: 1672-9072 CN: 11-5067/Q
备案号:京ICP备16067583号-22