The role of plant 90-kDa heat shock protein in plant immunity

CORIGLIANO, MARIANA G; ROSSI, FRANCO R; CISTARI, NAYLA S; SANCHEZ, EDWIN F; GÁRRIZ, ANDRÉS; CLEMENTE, MARINA

Córdoba

Congreso; 52 Annual Meeting. Argentine Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research; 2016

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular

Several works demonstrated that plant Hsp90s have an active role in the activation of the plant defense mechanisms against pathogens, since the lack or deficit of these proteins impairs defense against pathogenic bacteria and fungus. Hsp90s are found in all plant cellular compartments examined to date, including cytosol, nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria and chloroplasts. Recently, Hsp90 have also been found in the apoplast, even though their role in this location has not been described. In this work, we added some light to this issue by assessing the effects on the defense mechanisms occurring in Arabidopsis thaliana plants infiltrated with a recombinant Hsp81.2 protein from A. thaliana (rAtHsp81.2). After 24 h, cell death, ROS and callose were accumulated in infiltrated leaves, suggesting that the accumulation of the protein may participate in the induction of defense. In this sense, a 24h pre-treatment of leaves with rAtHsp81.2 resulted in a reduction in the proliferation of Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst DC3000), whereas the in vitro growth of the bacteria is not affected in the presence of rAtHsp81.2. Our results suggest that infiltration with recombinant Hsp90 is important for mounting appropriate plant immune responses.