The RhoGAP SPIN6 associates with SPL11 and OsRac1 and negatively regulates programmed cell death and innate immunity in rice

PLoS Pathog. 2015 Feb 6;11(2):e1004629. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004629. eCollection 2015 Feb.

Abstract

The ubiquitin proteasome system in plants plays important roles in plant-microbe interactions and in immune responses to pathogens. We previously demonstrated that the rice U-box E3 ligase SPL11 and its Arabidopsis ortholog PUB13 negatively regulate programmed cell death (PCD) and defense response. However, the components involved in the SPL11/PUB13-mediated PCD and immune signaling pathway remain unknown. In this study, we report that SPL11-interacting Protein 6 (SPIN6) is a Rho GTPase-activating protein (RhoGAP) that interacts with SPL11 in vitro and in vivo. SPL11 ubiquitinates SPIN6 in vitro and degrades SPIN6 in vivo via the 26S proteasome-dependent pathway. Both RNAi silencing in transgenic rice and knockout of Spin6 in a T-DNA insertion mutant lead to PCD and increased resistance to the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae and the bacterial blight pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. The levels of reactive oxygen species and defense-related gene expression are significantly elevated in both the Spin6 RNAi and mutant plants. Strikingly, SPIN6 interacts with the small GTPase OsRac1, catalyze the GTP-bound OsRac1 into the GDP-bound state in vitro and has GAP activity towards OsRac1 in rice cells. Together, our results demonstrate that the RhoGAP SPIN6 acts as a linkage between a U-box E3 ligase-mediated ubiquitination pathway and a small GTPase-associated defensome system for plant immunity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis / immunology
  • Cell Death / immunology*
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases / biosynthesis
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases / immunology
  • GTPase-Activating Proteins / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / immunology*
  • Immunity, Innate / immunology
  • Immunoprecipitation
  • Oryza / immunology*
  • Plant Diseases / immunology*
  • Plant Immunity / immunology*
  • Plant Proteins
  • Plants, Genetically Modified
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Two-Hybrid System Techniques
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / biosynthesis
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / immunology
  • Ubiquitination

Substances

  • GTPase-Activating Proteins
  • Plant Proteins
  • rho GTPase-activating protein
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the 973 Project (2012CB114005) of Ministry of Science and Technology China; the Program for Innovative Research Team in University (IRT1239); the Aid Program for Science and Technology Innovative Research Team in Higher Educational Institutions of Hunan Province; the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (grant no. 2007–01667); and the USAID-IRRI Linkage Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.