The tRNA thiolation-mediated translational control is essential for plant immunity

• Published in: eLife Vol. 13
• Main Authors: Zheng, Xueao, Chen, Hanchen, Deng, Zhiping, Wu, Yujing, Zhong, Linlin, Wu, Chong, Yu, Xiaodan, Chen, Qiansi, Yan, Shunping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 29.01.2024; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - metabolism; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Biosynthesis; Cell cycle; Disease; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Immune response; Mutation; NPR1; Pathogens; Plant Biology; Plant Diseases - genetics; Plant immunity; Plant Immunity - genetics; Proteins; Proteomes; RNA modification; RNA, Transfer - genetics; RNA, Transfer - metabolism; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - genetics; Salicylic acid; Salicylic Acid - metabolism; Transcriptomes; Transfer RNA; Translation; tRNA; tRNA Ala; tRNA thiolation; Yeast; tRNA thiolation; Arabidopsis; NPR1; A. thaliana; translation; plant biology; plant immunity
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/eLife.93517

Plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to regulate gene expression to activate immune responses against pathogen infections. However, how the translation system contributes to plant immunity is largely unknown. The evolutionarily conserved thiolation modification of transfer RNA (tRNA) ensures efficient decoding during translation. Here, we show that tRNA thiolation is required for plant immunity in Arabidopsis . We identify a cgb mutant that is hyper-susceptible to the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. CGB encodes ROL5, a homolog of yeast NCS6 required for tRNA thiolation. ROL5 physically interacts with CTU2, a homolog of yeast NCS2. Mutations in either ROL5 or CTU2 result in loss of tRNA thiolation. Further analyses reveal that both transcriptome and proteome reprogramming during immune responses are compromised in cgb . Notably, the translation of salicylic acid receptor NPR1 is reduced in cgb , resulting in compromised salicylic acid signaling. Our study not only reveals a regulatory mechanism for plant immunity but also uncovers an additional biological function of tRNA thiolation.