Significance: Susceptibility (S) genes are plant genes that facilitate pathogen infection. Inactivation of S genes has been considered a promising strategy to obtain broad-spectrum and durable resistance in crops. We characterized two orthologs of the Arabidopsis S gene DMR6 in tomato: SlDMR6-1 and SlDMR6-2 . We show that SlDMR6-1, but not SlDMR6-2, is associated with plant immunity. Remarkably, Sldmr6-1 mutants display enhanced resistance to bacterial, oomycete, and fungal pathogens. This phenotype correlates with increased levels of the defense hormone salicylic acid (SA) and enhanced transcriptional activation of plant immune responses. We also demonstrate that SlDMR6-1 and SlDMR6-2 convert SA into its inactive form, 2,5-DHBA, indicating that they play a role in SA homeostasis.

Xyloglucans are highly substituted and recalcitrant polysaccharides found in the primary cell walls of vascular plants, acting as a barrier against pathogens. Here, we reveal that the diverse and economically relevantXanthomonasbacteria are endowed with a xyloglucan depolymerization machinery that is linked to pathogenesis. Using the citrus canker pathogen as a model organism, we show that this system encompasses distinctive glycoside hydrolases, a modular xyloglucan acetylesterase and specific membrane transporters, demonstrating that plant-associated bacteria employ distinct molecular strategies from commensal gut bacteria to cope with xyloglucans. Notably, the sugars released by this system elicit the expression of several key virulence factors, including the type III secretion system, a membrane-embedded apparatus to deliver effector proteins into the host cells. Together, these findings shed light on the molecular mechanisms underpinning the intricate enzymatic machinery ofXanthomonasto depolymerize xyloglucans and uncover a role for this system in signaling pathways driving pathogenesis.

Psychrophilic enzymes evolved from a plethora of structural scaffolds via multiple molecular pathways. Elucidating their adaptive strategies is instrumental to understand how life can thrive in cold ecosystems and to tailor enzymes for biotechnological applications at low temperatures. In this work, we used X-ray crystallography,in solutionstudies and molecular dynamics simulations to reveal the structural basis for cold adaptation of the GH1 β-glucosidase fromExiguobacterium antarcticumB7. We discovered that the selective pressure of low temperatures favored mutations that redesigned the protein surface, reduced the number of salt bridges, exposed more hydrophobic regions to the solvent and gave rise to a tetrameric arrangement not found in mesophilic and thermophilic homologues. As a result, some solvent-exposed regions became more flexible in the cold-adapted tetramer, likely contributing to enhance enzymatic activity at cold environments. The tetramer stabilizes the native conformation of the enzyme, leading to a 10-fold higher activity compared to the disassembled monomers. According to phylogenetic analysis, diverse adaptive strategies to cold environments emerged in the GH1 family, being tetramerization an alternative, not a rule. These findings reveal a novel strategy for enzyme cold adaptation and provide a framework for the semi-rational engineering of β-glucosidases aiming at cold industrial processes.

2-Cys peroxiredoxins belonging to the Prx1 subfamily are Cys-based peroxidases that control the intracellular levels of H2O2 and seem to assume a chaperone function under oxidative stress conditions. The regulation of their peroxidase activity as well as the observed functional switch from peroxidase to chaperone involves changes in their quaternary structure. Multiple factors can modulate the oligomeric transitions of 2-Cys peroxiredoxins such as redox state, post-translational modifications and pH. However, the molecular basis for the pH influence on the oligomeric state of these enzymes is still elusive. Herein, we solved the crystal structure of a typical 2-Cys peroxiredoxin from Leishmania in the dimeric (pH 8.5) and decameric (pH 4.4) forms, showing that conformational changes in the active-site loop are associated with the pH-induced decamerization. Mutagenesis and biophysical studies revealed that a highly conserved histidine (His113) functions as a pH sensor that, at acidic conditions, becomes protonated and forms an electrostatic pair with Asp76 from the active-site loop, triggering the decamerization. In these 2-Cys peroxiredoxins, decamer formation is important for the catalytic efficiency and has been associated with an enhanced sensitivity to oxidative inactivation by overoxidation of the peroxidatic cysteine. In eukaryotic cells, exposure to high levels of H2O2 can trigger intracellular pH variations, suggesting that pH changes might act cooperatively with H2O2 and other oligomerization-modulator factors to regulate the structure and function of typical 2-Cys peroxiredoxins in response to oxidative stress.