EU researchers solve the NLR mystery in plants

The EU-funded NLRS project looked to solve the mystery of the NLRs that are present in all Arabidopsis plants.

Resistance proteins with nucleotide binding/leucine rich repeat domains, so-called NLR proteins, are among the most important weapons that plants have to defend themselves against their enemies – be it viruses, bacteria, fungi or even plant-munching herbivores. Not surprisingly, there is a constant tug-of-war, where plant pathogens continuously change to evade detection by NLR proteins and plants constantly innovate and generate new NLR protein variants. NLR proteins are thus the most variable proteins encoded by plants. However, while they have been studied for over 20 years, it is still unclear whether all NLR proteins made by a plant (which can be several hundred) have a specific function, or whether some are just produced as a ‘reserve’.

Further details: EU researchers solve the NLR mystery in plants