Tandem Kinase Proteins Across the Plant Kingdom

Overview

Journal Nat Genet

Date 2025 Jan 8

PMID 39779952

Authors

Tamara Reveguk

Andrii Fatiukha

Evgenii Potapenko

Ivan Reveguk

Hanan Sela

Valentyna Klymiuk

Yinghui Li

Curtis Pozniak

Thomas Wicker

Gitta Coaker

Tzion Fahima

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Plant pathogens pose a continuous threat to global food production. Recent discoveries in plant immunity research unveiled a unique protein family characterized by an unusual resistance protein structure that combines two kinase domains. This study demonstrates the widespread occurrence of tandem kinase proteins (TKPs) across the plant kingdom. An examination of 104 plant species' genomes uncovered 2,682 TKPs. The majority (95.6%) of these kinase domains are part of the receptor-like kinase-Pelle family, which is crucial for cell surface responses in plant immunity. Notably, 90% of TKPs comprise dual kinase domains, with over 50% being pseudokinases. Over 56% of these proteins harbor 127 different integrated domains, and over 47% include a transmembrane domain. TKP pseudokinases and/or integrated domains probably serve as decoys, engaging with pathogen effectors to trigger plant immunity. The TKP Atlas we created sheds light on the mechanisms of TKP convergent molecular evolution and potential function.

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