Flagellin peptide flg22 gains access to long-distance trafficking in Arabidopsis via its receptor, FLS2

Joanna Jelenska, Sandra M. Davern, Robert F. Standaert, Saed Mirzadeh, Jean T. Greenberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Diverse pathogen-derived molecules, such as bacterial flagellin and its conserved peptide flg22, are recognized in plants via plasma membrane receptors and induce both local and systemic immune responses. The fate of such ligands was unknown: whether and by what mechanism(s) they enter plant cells and whether they are transported to distal tissues. We used biologically active fluorophore and radiolabeled peptides to establish that flg22 moves to distal organs with the closest vascular connections. Remarkably, entry into the plant cell via endocytosis together with the FLS2 receptor is needed for delivery to vascular tissue and long-distance transport of flg22. This contrasts with known routes of long distance transport of other non-cell-permeant molecules in plants, which require membranelocalized transporters for entry to vascular tissue. Thus, a plasma membrane receptor acts as a transporter to enable access of its ligand to distal trafficking routes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1769-1783
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Experimental Botany
Volume68
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2017

Funding

We thank Drs S. Robatzek and D. Chinchilla for the FLS2-GFP construct and FLS2-GFP/Ws seeds and Drs N. Cecchini, C. Tateda, B. Tyler and P. Gornicki for useful discussions. This work was supported by grants from DOE-BER (Project ERKP417) and NSF (IOS-1456904). ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC0500OR22725 with the US Department of Energy.

Keywords

  • Arabidopsis
  • FLS2
  • Flagellin
  • Long-distance traffic
  • Peptide
  • Pseudomonas syringae
  • Receptor-mediated endocytosis
  • Transport
  • flg22

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Flagellin peptide flg22 gains access to long-distance trafficking in Arabidopsis via its receptor, FLS2'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this