Manipulation of Plant Innate Immune Responses by Small Molecules Probes

Plants lack mobile immune cells and rely on early detection of conserved pathogen components (PAMPs) to fend off pathogen attacks. Detection of PAMPs at the cell surface by pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs) initiates a ramified defense response that ultimately halts pathogen colonization. The vast majority of our current understanding of signaling pathways that originate at the cell surface is based on studies that consider receptor systems in isolation and the pathways they control as linear entities. While these approaches provide key information on the quasi-static signaling properties of cell surface receptors, they are unsuitable for system level studies. A better understanding of how cell surface receptors operate to ultimately generate adaptive responses necessitates constantly evolving conceptual frameworks produced by new methodologies and minable resources. Our work presents various resources and technologies to study RK signaling pathways. Our chemical biology-enabled findings represent novel resources to study plant immune system and could inform future translational approaches that aim to improve plant disease resistance.