Callose, a beta-(1,3)-D-glucan polymer, is essential for regulating intercellular trafficking via plasmodesmata (PD). Pathogens manipulate PD-localized proteins to enable intercellular trafficking by removing callose at PD, or conversely by increasing callose accumulation at PD to limit intercellular trafficking during infection. Plant defense hormones like salicylic acid regulate PD-localized proteins to control PD and intercellular trafficking during immune defense responses such as systemic acquired resistance. Measuring callose deposition at PD in plants has therefore emerged as a popular parameter for assessing likely intercellular trafficking activity during plant immunity. Despite the popularity of this metric there is no standard for how these measurements should be made. In this study, we compared three commonly used methods for identifying and quantifying PD callose by aniline blue staining were evaluated to determine the most effective in the Nicotiana benthamiana leaf model. The results reveal that the most reliable method used aniline blue staining and fluorescent microscopy to measure callose deposition in fixed tissue. Manual or semi-automated workflows for image analysis were also compared and found to produce similar results although the semi-automated workflow produced a wider distribution of data points.
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Brucella activates the host RIDD pathway to subvert BLOS1-directed immune defense
The phagocytosis and destruction of pathogens in lysosomes constitute central elements of innate immune defense. Here, we show that Brucella , the causative agent of brucellosis, the most prevalent bacterial zoonosis globally, subverts this immune defense pathway by activating regulated IRE1α-dependent decay (RIDD) of Bloc1s1 mRNA encoding BLOS1, a protein that promotes endosome–lysosome fusion. RIDD-deficient cells and mice harboring a RIDD-incompetent variant of IRE1α were resistant to infection. Inactivation of the Bloc1s1 gene impaired the ability to assemble BLOC-1-related complex (BORC), resulting in differential recruitment of BORC-related lysosome trafficking components, perinuclear trafficking of Brucella -containing vacuoles (BCVs), and enhanced susceptibility to infection. The RIDD-resistant Bloc1s1 variant maintains the integrity of BORC and a higher-level association of BORC-related components that promote centrifugal lysosome trafficking, resulting in enhanced BCV peripheral trafficking and lysosomal destruction, and resistance to infection. These findings demonstrate that host RIDD activity on BLOS1 regulates Brucella intracellular parasitism by disrupting BORC-directed lysosomal trafficking. Notably, coronavirus murine hepatitis virus also subverted the RIDD–BLOS1 axis to promote intracellular replication. Our work establishes BLOS1 as a novel immune defense factor whose activity is hijacked by diverse pathogens.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1553281
- PAR ID:
- 10329005
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- eLife Sciences Publications
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- eLife
- Volume:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 2050-084X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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