PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Aurélia Emonet
AU  - Feng Zhou
AU  - Jordan Vacheron
AU  - Clara Margot Heiman
AU  - Valérie Dénervaud Tendon
AU  - Ka-Wai Ma
AU  - Paul Schulze-Lefert
AU  - Christoph Keel
AU  - Niko Geldner
TI  - Spatially Restricted Immune Responses Allow for Root Meristematic Activity During Bacterial Colonisation
AID  - 10.1101/2020.08.03.233817
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.08.03.233817
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/03/2020.08.03.233817.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/03/2020.08.03.233817.full
AB  - Plants circumscribe microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP)-triggered immune responses to weak points of the roots. This spatially restricted immunity was suggested to avoid constitutive responses to rhizosphere microbiota. To demonstrate its relevance, we combined cell-type specific expression of the plant flagellin receptor (FLS2) with fluorescent defence markers and mapped immune competency at cellular resolution. Our analysis distinguishes cell-autonomous and non-cell autonomous responses and reveals lignification to be tissue-independent, contrasting cell-type specific suberisation. Importantly, our analysis divides the non-responsive meristem into a central zone refractory to FLS2 expression, and a cortex that becomes highly sensitised by FLS2 expression, causing meristem collapse upon MAMP exposure. Meristematic epidermal expression generates super-competent lines that detect native bacterial flagellin and bypass the absence of response to commensals, providing a powerful tool for studying root immunity. Our precise manipulations and read-outs demonstrate incompatibility of meristematic activity and defence and the importance of cell-resolved studies of plant immunity.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.