Protein polyation regulates arabidopsis immune gene expression and defense responses

Perception of microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) elicits transcriptional reprogramming in hosts and activates defense to pathogen attacks. The molecular mechanisms underlying plant pattern-triggered immunity remain elusive. A genetic screen identified Arabidopsis poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase 1 (atpargi) mutant with elevated immune gene expression upon multiple MAMP and pathogen treatments. Poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) is predicted to remove poly(ADP-ribose) polymers on acceptor proteins modified by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs) with three PARPs and two PARGs in Arabidopsis genome. AtPARPI and AtPARP2 possess poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activity, and the activity of AtPARP2 was enhanced by MAMP treatment. AtPARGI, but not AtPARG2, carries glycohydrolase activity in vivo and in vitro. Importantly, mutation (G450R) in atpargi blocks its activity and the corresponding residue is highly conserved and essential for human HsPARG activity. Consistently, mutant atparpiatparp2 plants exhibited compromised immune gene activation and enhanced susceptibility to pathogen infections. Our study indicates that protein poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation plays critical roles in plant immune gene expression and defense to pathogen attacks.