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Peer-reviewedCC BYThe Plant Cell

Engineering an Exo70 integrated domain of a barley NLR for improved blast resistance

  • Indira Saado1,2
  • Helen J. Brabham3,4,5
  • J. R. Bennett1,2
  • Anson Ho Ching Lam6,2
  • Inmaculada Hernández‐Pinzón4,5
  • Matthew Moscou4,7,8
  • Juan Carlos De la Concepción9,1,4,10
  • Mark James Banfield1,2
10 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Biochemistry and Metabolism, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park , Norwich NR4 7UH ,
  2. 2John Innes Centre
  3. 32Blades , Evanston, IL 60201 ,
  4. 4The Sainsbury Laboratory, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park , Norwich NR4 7UH ,
  5. 5The Sainsbury Laboratory
  6. 6Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park , Norwich NR4 7UH ,
  7. 7USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory , 1551 Lindig Street, Saint Paul, MN 55108 ,
  8. 8University of Minnesota
  9. 9Center for Plant Molecular Biology (ZMBP), Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen , Tübingen 72076 ,
  10. 10Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology
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Abstract

Intracellular immune receptors protect plants from microbial invasion by detecting and responding to pathogen-derived effector molecules, often triggering cell death responses. However, pathogen effectors can evolve to avoid immune recognition, resulting in devastating diseases that threaten global agriculture. Here, we show that an integrated Exo70 domain from the barley intracellular nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) RGH2 can interact with both the rice blast pathogen effector AVR-Pii and a closely related wheat blast causing variant. We used structure-led engineering to develop RGH2+ that shows increased binding affinity toward AVR-Pii variants and increased cell death responses on heterologous expression in Nicotiana benthamiana. Infection assays in transgenic barley lines carrying RGH2+ with the paired NLR RGH3 indicate a reduced susceptibility to blast strains expressing AVR-Pii variants. These results demonstrate the potential of engineering NLR receptors as an effective strategy for improving resistance toward one of the most destructive diseases affecting cereal production.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{saado2026engineering,
  title = {{Engineering an Exo70 integrated domain of a barley NLR for improved blast resistance}},
  author = {Indira Saado and Helen J. Brabham and J. R. Bennett and Anson Ho Ching Lam and Inmaculada Hernández‐Pinzón and Matthew Moscou and Juan Carlos De la Concepción and Mark James Banfield},
  journal = {The Plant Cell},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1093/plcell/koag168},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koag168},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Engineering an Exo70 integrated domain of a barley NLR for improved blast resistance
AU  - Indira Saado
AU  - Helen J. Brabham
AU  - J. R. Bennett
AU  - Anson Ho Ching Lam
AU  - Inmaculada Hernández‐Pinzón
AU  - Matthew Moscou
AU  - Juan Carlos De la Concepción
AU  - Mark James Banfield
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/01
JO  - The Plant Cell
DO  - 10.1093/plcell/koag168
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koag168
AB  - Intracellular immune receptors protect plants from microbial invasion by detecting and responding to pathogen-derived effector molecules, often triggering cell death responses. However, pathogen effectors can evolve to avoid immune recognition, resulting in devastating diseases that threaten global agriculture. Here, we show that an integrated Exo70 domain from the barley intracellular nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) RGH2 can interact with both the rice blast pathogen effector AVR-Pii and a closely related wheat blast causing variant. We used structure-led engineering to develop RGH2+ that shows increased binding affinity toward AVR-Pii variants and increased cell death responses on heterologous expression in Nicotiana benthamiana. Infection assays in transgenic barley lines carrying RGH2+ with the paired NLR RGH3 indicate a reduced susceptibility to blast strains expressing AVR-Pii variants. These results demonstrate the potential of engineering NLR receptors as an effective strategy for improving resistance toward one of the most destructive diseases affecting cereal production.
SN  - 1040-4651
SN  - 1532-298X
ER  -