Pathogenesis related-1 proteins in plant defense: regulation and functional diversity

Abstract

Climate change-related environmental stresses can negatively impact crop productivity and pose a threat to sustainable agriculture. Plants have a remarkable innate ability to detect a broad array of environmental cues, including stresses that trigger stress-induced regulatory networks and signaling pathways. Transcriptional activation of plant pathogenesis related-1 (PR-1) proteins was first identified as an integral component of systemic acquired resistance in response to stress. Consistent with their central role in immune defense, overexpression of PR-1s in diverse plant species is frequently used as a marker for salicylic acid (SA)-mediated defense responses. Recent advances demonstrated how virulence effectors, SA signaling cascades, and epigenetic modifications modulate PR-1 expression in response to environmental stresses. We and others showed that transcriptional regulatory networks involving PR-1s could be used to improve plant resilience to stress. Together, the results of these studies have re-energized the field and provided long-awaited insights into a possible function of PR-1s under extreme environmental stress.

Keywords:

• Climate change
• pathogenesis related-1 proteins
• SA signal transduction
• epigenetic modifications
• defense response
• food security

Authors contributions

Conceptualization, T.J. and S.Z.; software, T.J.; validation, W.W. and S.Z.; writing-original draft preparation, T.J.; writing-review and editing, W.W., B.Y., L.S., T.S. and S.Z.; visualization, S.Z.; supervision, S.Z.; project administration, S.Z.; funding acquisition, S.Z. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

The current study was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China [2022YFD2301100], Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Lab [JBGS + B21HJ0302], Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund for Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences [1630052019019] and Earmarked fund for Chinese Agricultural Research System [CARS-170301].