Laboratories

Plant Immunity

Assoc. Prof. Saijo
Associate Professor
Yusuke SAIJO
Assistant Professor
Kei HIRUMA, Yuri TAJIMA
Labs HP
https://bsw3.naist.jp/saijo/

Outline of Research and Education

In nature, plants cope with a wide range of microbes, which reside on the surface of or within plant tissues, under fluctuating environments. Plants disregard or tolerate the presence of these plant-inhabiting microbes at non-damaging levels, despite an elaborate innate immune system to detect and repel microbes. We hypothesize that plants distinguish pathogens from non-pathogens in a context-dependent manner, by sensing “danger” signals (DAMPs) generated upon pathogen challenge in addition to microbial signals (MAMPs). We aim to decipher the molecular mechanisms by which plants integrate microbial and abiotic cues to fine-tune their associations with microbes and facilitate their adaptation to different habitats. Our major focuses involve functional interactions between MAMP and DAMP receptors, defense-related transcriptional reprogramming and infection strategies of pathogenic and endophytic microbes. Our studies are expected to reveal important insight into the principles with which plant-microbe associations and environmental factors influence each other, and thus offer new effective approaches to controlling plant health and growth in sustainable agriculture.

Major Research Topics

  1. Danger sensing and signaling in plant-microbe interactions
  2. Modulation of plant immunity in fluctuating environments
  3. Endophytic and pathogenic microbes in plants
  4. Plant-associated microbiomes
  5. criptional reprogramming and priming in plant immunity

References

  1. Shinya et al., Plant J., 94, 4, 626-637, 2018
  2. Saijo et al., Plant J., 93, 592-613, 2018
  3. Hiruma et al., Curr. Opin. Plant Biol., 44, 145-154, 2018
  4. Ariga et al., Nature Plants, 3, 17072, 2017
  5. Yasuda, Okada and Saijo, Curr. Opin. Plant Biol., 38, 10-18, 2017.
  6. Yamada et al., Science, 354,1427-1430, 2016.
  7. Espinas et al., Front. Plant Sci., 7, 1201, 2016
  8. Hiruma et al., Cell, 165, 464-474, 2016
  9. Yamada et al, EMBO J., 35, 46-61, 2016
  10. Ross et al., EMBO J., 33, 62-75, 2014
  11. Tintor et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A., 110, 6211-6216, 2013
  12. Serrano et al., Plant Physiol., 158, 408-422, 2012
  13. Saijo, Cell Microbiol., 12, 716-724, 2010
  14. Lu et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 106, 22522-22527, 2009
  15. Saijo et al., EMBO J., 28, 3439-3449, 2009
  16. Saijo et al., Mol. Cell, 31, 607-613, 2008
  17. Shen et al., Science, 315, 1098-1103, 2007
Fig. 1 Layered MAMP- and DAMP-receptor signaling provides an important basis for pathogen resistance.
Fig. 1 Layered MAMP- and DAMP-receptor signaling provides an important basis for pathogen resistance.
Fig. 2 Transcriptional reprogramming and priming in plant immunity. Following the initial defense activation (left arrow) upon recognition of pathogen-associated patterns (PTI) or effectors (ETI), defense-related genes become primed to allow faster and/or greater responses upon second stimulation (right arrow). Histone modifications provide a basis for this immune memory that is sustained in the generation and can be inherited by the next generation.
Fig. 2 Transcriptional reprogramming and priming in plant immunity. Following the initial defense activation (left arrow) upon recognition of pathogen-associated patterns (PTI) or effectors (ETI), defense-related genes become primed to allow faster and/or greater responses upon second stimulation (right arrow). Histone modifications provide a basis for this immune memory that is sustained in the generation and can be inherited by the next generation.
Fig. 3 Root colonization of endophyte Colletotrichum tofieldiae (Ct). Confocal microscope images of Ct constitutively expressing cytoplasmic GFP (green, labeled by dotted lines) and A. thaliana expressing VAMP722-mRFP (Red). Intracellular hyphae inside a root cortical cell are enveloped by PIP2A-mCherry-labeled host membranes (arrows). 8 day post inoculation. Bar = 10 μm.
Fig. 3 Root colonization of endophyte Colletotrichum tofieldiae (Ct). Confocal microscope images of Ct constitutively expressing cytoplasmic GFP (green, labeled by dotted lines) and A. thaliana expressing VAMP722-mRFP (Red). Intracellular hyphae inside a root cortical cell are enveloped by PIP2A-mCherry-labeled host membranes (arrows). 8 day post inoculation. Bar = 10 μm.
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