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Poster

Session: Session 1 Presenting Authors at Posters (Odds)

P-051 - Investigating the molecular basis of AVR9 recognition by tomato leucine-rich repeat receptor proteins

Monday, July 14, 2025
13:30 - 15:15  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Extracellular & Intracellular non-self recognition & signaling

    Presenting Author(s)

  • YG

    Yukihisa Goto

    Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zurich
    Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    • Author(s)

  • GK

    Gijeong Kim

    Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zurich
    Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

  • SS

    Simon Snoeck

    University of Zurich
    Zurich, SWITZERLAND

  • KB

    Kyle W. Bender

    Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zurich
    Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

  • LW

    Limin Wang

    Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zurich
    Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

  • F

    Álvaro D. Fernández-Fernández

    Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zurich
    Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

  • JR

    Jack Rhodes

    The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Norwich, England, United Kingdom

  • CZ

    Cyril Zipfel

    Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zurich / The Sainsbury Laboratory
    Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

The tomato fungal pathogen Cladosporium fulvum secretes AVR9, a race-specific elicitor that triggers a hypersensitive response (HR) dependent on the leucine-rich repeat receptor protein (LRR-RP) Cf-9. While Cf-9 confers AVR9-dependent immunity, a putative direct interaction has been debated for over two decades, and a yet-unknown High-Affinity Binding Site (HABS) for AVR9 has been proposed. This study explores two AVR9 recognition modes: one mediated by Cf-9 and another by the proposed HABS. Using AI-based structural modeling, we identified key residues in the Cf-9 extracellular domain putatively involved in direct AVR9 binding. We subsequently confirmed the importance of these residues for Cf-9-dependent AVR9-induced HR in planta, suggesting the direct binding of AVR9 by Cf-9. In Cf-0 tomato plants (lacking Cf-9), AVR9 does not induce HR; however, it can still trigger typical rapid immune responses dependent on the common co-receptor SERK3A/B, indicating that AVR9 can be perceived in both Cf-9-dependent and -independent manners. Here, we present our work investigating the roles of Cf-9 paralogs and other proteins in AVR9 recognition. Our findings provide new insights into how AVR9 perception via Cf-9 and other receptors induces a suite of immune responses, and it also contributes to a broader understanding of ligand recognition specificity by plant pattern recognition receptors.