Structural basis of NLR activation and innate immune signalling in plants.

Animals and plants have NLRs (nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptors) that recognize the presence of pathogens and initiate innate immune responses. In plants, there are three types of NLRs distinguished by their N-terminal domain: the CC (coiled-coil) domain NLRs, the TIR (Toll/interleukin-1 receptor) domain NLRs and the RPW8 (resistance to powdery mildew 8)-like coiled-coil domain NLRs. CC-NLRs (CNLs) and TIR-NLRs (TNLs) generally act as sensors of effectors secreted by pathogens, while RPW8-NLRs (RNLs) signal downstream of many sensor NLRs and are called helper NLRs. Recent studies have revealed three dimensional structures of a CNL (ZAR1) including its inactive, intermediate and active oligomeric state, as well as TNLs (RPP1 and ROQ1) in their active oligomeric states. Furthermore, accumulating evidence suggests that members of the family of lipase-like EDS1 (enhanced disease susceptibility 1) proteins, which are uniquely found in seed plants, play a key role in providing a link between sensor NLRs and helper NLRs during innate immune responses. Here, we summarize the implications of the plant NLR structures that provide insights into distinct mechanisms of action by the different sensor NLRs and discuss plant NLR-mediated innate immune signalling pathways involving the EDS1 family proteins and RNLs.

Structural Evolution of TIR-Domain Signalosomes.

TIR (Toll/interleukin-1 receptor/resistance protein) domains are cytoplasmic domains widely found in animals and plants, where they are essential components of the innate immune system. A key feature of TIR-domain function in signaling is weak and transient self-association and association with other TIR domains. An additional new role of TIR domains as catalytic enzymes has been established with the recent discovery of NAD+-nucleosidase activity by several TIR domains, mostly involved in cell-death pathways. Although self-association of TIR domains is necessary in both cases, the functional specificity of TIR domains is related in part to the nature of the TIR : TIR interactions in the respective signalosomes. Here, we review the well-studied TIR domain-containing proteins involved in eukaryotic immunity, focusing on the structures, interactions and their corresponding functional roles. Structurally, the signalosomes fall into two separate groups, the scaffold and enzyme TIR-domain assemblies, both of which feature open-ended complexes with two strands of TIR domains, but differ in the orientation of the two strands. We compare and contrast how TIR domains assemble and signal through distinct scaffolding and enzymatic roles, ultimately leading to distinct cellular innate-immunity and cell-death outcomes.