Systematic Identification and Characterization of Microbe-Sensing LRR-RK in Roots

Objective

At the root-soil interface, plants must discriminate between symbiotic partners and pathogens. This decision relies mostly on plasma membrane-localized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), many of which belong to the leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase At the root-soil interface, plants must discriminate between symbiotic partners and pathogens. This decision relies mostly on plasma membrane-localized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), many of which belong to the leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase (LRR-RK) XII family. Although several LRR-RK XII receptors have been studied in Arabidopsis, most receptors in this large and rapidly evolving clade remain uncharacterized, and little is known about their expression or function in root tissues or microbe perception. This project aims to identify and characterize novel LRR-RK XII receptors involved in microbe perception at the root interface. This project aims to uncover novel LRR-RK XII receptors involved in root–microbe interactions. I will generate high-resolution, single-cell spatial expression maps of LRR-RK XII receptors in A. thaliana and L. japonicus roots using PHYTOMap, under different conditions, including nutrient starvation, pathogen elicitors, and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. Next, I will screen a synthetic receptor library from A. thaliana, S. lycopersicum, and M. truncatula to identify receptors capable of detecting microbial extracts derived from either pathogens or symbionts. Active extracts will be further fractionated to identify bioactive elicitors. Finally, I will functionally characterize promising LRR-RK XII receptors and define their downstream signalling outputs through transcriptomics, phosphoproteomics, and protein interaction studies using inducible auto-active receptor chimera lines. Collectively, these investigations will elucidate the fundamental mechanisms of root immune regulation and microbe perception, while clarifying the signalling outputs of the enigmatic LRR-RK XII family.