A tomato MIK2 ‐clade receptor is involved in the perception of a Fusarium ‐derived elicitor
5 affiliations
- 1Chair of Phytopathology, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
- 2Chair of Plant Systems Biology, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
- 3Developmental Biology of Plants, Justus-Liebig-University, 35392 Gießen, Germany
- 4Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
- 5The Sainsbury Laboratory, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, NR4 7UH Norwich, United Kingdom
Abstract
Plants continuously monitor their environment to adapt to threats affecting health and fitness. Cell-surface receptors detect conserved microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) or endogenous immunogenic signals to activate signaling pathways that induce broad-spectrum disease resistance, known as pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). In Arabidopsis thaliana, the leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase MIK2 emerged as a versatile receptor involved in perceiving endogenous SCOOP peptides as well as potential MAMPs derived from Fusarium and related fungi. While SCOOP perception appears restricted to Brassicales, the Fusarium-derived elicitor triggers PTI responses across different plant lineages. Here, we demonstrate that Fusarium elicitor responsiveness and MIK2-clade proteins are conserved among seed plants. We identified a tomato MIK2-clade receptor that shares AtMIK2 properties in perceiving the Fusarium elicitor, but not SCOOPs. Tomato mutants lacking the receptor show compromised PTI responses to the fungal elicitor and increased susceptibility to Fusarium oxysporum. By integrating AI-assisted structural prediction with experimental data, we identify conserved and variable residues in Arabidopsis and tomato MIK2-clade receptors that may underlie shared and lineage-specific recognition specificities. Together, these findings establish MIK2-clade receptors as immune surveillance modules that have undergone lineage-specific diversification, supporting a model in which endogenous danger perception might have evolved from an ancestral role in microbial pattern recognition.
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BibTeX
@article{maroschek2026tomato,
title = {{A tomato MIK2 ‐clade receptor is involved in the perception of a Fusarium ‐derived elicitor}},
author = {Julian Maroschek and Yvonne Roesgen and Clemens Rössner and Simon Snoeck and Claus Schwechheimer and Cyril Zipfel and Ralph Hückelhoven},
journal = {New Phytologist},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1111/nph.71420},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71420},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A tomato MIK2 ‐clade receptor is involved in the perception of a Fusarium ‐derived elicitor
AU - Julian Maroschek
AU - Yvonne Roesgen
AU - Clemens Rössner
AU - Simon Snoeck
AU - Claus Schwechheimer
AU - Cyril Zipfel
AU - Ralph Hückelhoven
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/14
JO - New Phytologist
DO - 10.1111/nph.71420
UR - https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71420
AB - Plants continuously monitor their environment to adapt to threats affecting health and fitness. Cell-surface receptors detect conserved microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) or endogenous immunogenic signals to activate signaling pathways that induce broad-spectrum disease resistance, known as pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). In Arabidopsis thaliana, the leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase MIK2 emerged as a versatile receptor involved in perceiving endogenous SCOOP peptides as well as potential MAMPs derived from Fusarium and related fungi. While SCOOP perception appears restricted to Brassicales, the Fusarium-derived elicitor triggers PTI responses across different plant lineages. Here, we demonstrate that Fusarium elicitor responsiveness and MIK2-clade proteins are conserved among seed plants. We identified a tomato MIK2-clade receptor that shares AtMIK2 properties in perceiving the Fusarium elicitor, but not SCOOPs. Tomato mutants lacking the receptor show compromised PTI responses to the fungal elicitor and increased susceptibility to Fusarium oxysporum. By integrating AI-assisted structural prediction with experimental data, we identify conserved and variable residues in Arabidopsis and tomato MIK2-clade receptors that may underlie shared and lineage-specific recognition specificities. Together, these findings establish MIK2-clade receptors as immune surveillance modules that have undergone lineage-specific diversification, supporting a model in which endogenous danger perception might have evolved from an ancestral role in microbial pattern recognition.
SN - 0028-646X
SN - 1469-8137
ER -