A Phytophthora capsici RXLR effector manipulates plant immunity by
targeting RAB proteins and disturbing vesicle-mediated protein
trafficking pathway
Abstract
The oomycete pathogen Phytophthora capsici encodes hundreds of RXLR
effectors to enter plant cells and suppress host defense responses. Only
few of them are conserved across different strains and species. Such
‘core effectors’ may target hub immunity pathways that are essential
during Phytophthora pathogens interacting with their hosts. However, the
underlying mechanisms of core RXLRs-mediated host immunity manipulation
are largely unknown. Here, we report the functional characterization of
a P. capsici RXLR effector, RXLR242. RXLR242 expression is highly
induced during the infection process. Its ectopic expression in
Nicotiana benthamiana promotes Phytophthora infection. RXLR242
physically interacts with a group of RAB proteins, which belong to the
small GTPase family and function in specifying transport pathways in the
intracellular membrane trafficking system. RXLR242 impedes the secretion
of PATHOGENESIS-RELATED 1 (PR1) protein to the apoplast by interfering
the formation of RABE1-7-labeled vesicles. Further analysis indicated
that such phenomenon is resulted from competitive binding of RXLR242 to
RABE1-7. RXLR242 also interferes trafficking of the membrane-located
receptor FLAGELLIN-SENSING 2 (FLS2) through competitively interacting
with RABA4-3. Taken together, our work demonstrates that RXLR242
manipulates plant immunity by targeting RAB proteins and disturbing
vesicle-mediated protein transporting pathway in plant hosts.