The Arabidopsis Lectin Receptor Kinase LecRK-I.8 Is Involved in Insect Egg Perception

Plants induce defense responses after insect egg deposition, but very little is known about the perception mechanisms. In , eggs of the specialist insect trigger accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and salicylic acid (SA), followed by induction of defense genes and localized necrosis. Here, the involvement of the clade I L-type lectin receptor kinase LecRK-I.8 in these responses was studied. Expression of was upregulated at the site of oviposition and egg extract (EE) treatment. ROS, SA, cell death, and expression of were substantially reduced in the knock-out mutant after EE treatment. In addition, EE-induced systemic resistance against was abolished in . Expression of ten clade I homologs of was also induced by EE treatment, but single mutants displayed only weak alteration of EE-induced expression. These results demonstrate that LecRK-I.8 is an early component of egg perception.