Role of LysM receptors in chitin-triggered plant innate immunity

Abstract

Recent research findings clearly indicate that lysin motif (LysM)-containing cell surface receptors are involved in the recognition of specific oligosaccharide elicitors (chitin and peptidoglycan), which trigger an innate immunity response in plants. These receptors are either LysM-containing receptor-like kinases (LYKs) or LysM-containing receptor proteins (LYPs). In Arabidopsis, five LYKs (AtCERK1/AtLYK1 and AtLYK2–5) and three LYPs (AtLYP1–3) are likely expressed on the plasma membrane. In this review, we summarize recent research results on the role of these receptors in plant innate immunity, including the recent structural characterization of AtCERK1 and composition of the various receptor complexes in Arabidopsis.

Keywords: :

• plant innate immunity
• microbe-associated molecular patterns
• chitin (N-acetylchitooligosaccharide)
• lysin motif
• lysin motif-containing receptors
• Arabidopsis

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, the United States Department of Energy (grant no. DE-FG02–08ER15309) and by the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program Systems and Synthetic Agrobiotech Center, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea (grant no. PJ009068).

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.