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Mosses, liverworts, ferns, and algae are often deemed rudimentary compared to flowering plants. Despite their simple appearance and ancient lineage, these plants possess unique and sophisticated biological mechanisms.
Recent studies suggest that they may hold a crucial key to addressing a major global issue: the increasing threat of diseases to our crops.
As researchers delve deeper into the capabilities of these overlooked plants, they are uncovering potential solutions that could revolutionize crop protection and enhance agricultural resilience in the face of climate change and evolving pathogens.
Mosses: Hidden potential for plants
A pioneering study by a research team based at the John Innes Centre has shed new light on the abundant abilities of non-flowering bryophytes, especially mosses.
The research revealed an expanded array of sophisticated immune receptor repertoires in these underdogs of the plant kingdom.
“The non-vascular and non-flowering bryophytes are often thought of as simple predecessors of flowering plants, but we find that mosses in particular have an expanded set of immune receptors that are perhaps the most complex amongst plants,” said study co-author Dr. Phil Carella.
Transferable immune system
The most intriguing part of this study lies in the transferability of these advanced immune systems.
The diverse immunity found in non-flowering plants such as mosses can be transferred, promising a rich source of new resistance genes against pathogens.
This discovery offers a unique opportunity for engineering immunity in major crops that are increasingly threatened by emerging and quickly evolving pathogens, a situation made worse by climate change.
Leucine-rich immune receptors
For millions of years, plants have evolved leucine-rich-repeat (NLR) immune receptors to defend against pathogens.
While the NLRs of flowering plants have been widely studied, little is known about the form and function of receptors from divergent lineages of non-flowering, non-vascular bryophytes.
Upon investigating these less-understood species, scientists found remarkable structural and functional similarity between immune receptor domains across diverse plants, despite the highly variable genetic sequences.
Immune power of mosses
The application of transient expression techniques paved the way for the transfer of immune receptor genes from non-flowering plants, like the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, into a flowering plant, Nicotiana benthamiana, a type of dwarf tobacco.
This experiment proved that diverse immune receptor domains could stimulate strong immune responses in flowering plants.
Consequently, the experts discovered an exciting potential for practical application in crop protection as the receptor domains were transferable and functional across plant lineages.
This implies that we can leverage the broad evolutionary diversity of immune receptors across the plant kingdom.
Non-flowering plants like mosses or liverworts can be used to source new resistance genes to protect against crop pathogens, opening avenues to engineer immunity on a much larger scale than previously believed.
Unleashing plant power
The innovative team at the John Innes Centre is eager to explore the evolutionary novelties encoded in bryophytes as a source of gene discovery for crop protection against diseases.
The experts aim to identify pathogen molecules that can trigger immunity across diverse plants and comprehend how the components of the immune receptor assemble to activate an immune response.
To truly harness the potential of non-flowering plants in crop protection, collaborative efforts between plant biologists, geneticists, and agricultural engineers are vital.
Future research is set to focus on creating transgenic crops equipped with these advanced immune receptors. By combining the strengths of traditional and non-traditional crops, scientists hope to build a more resilient agricultural system.
This could revolutionize our approach to crop protection, ensuring food security in the face of escalating global challenges.
“It is often considered that flowering plants are the pinnacle of evolution,” said Dr. Carella. “But our study shows that there is likely a complexity of immune receptor biochemistries in non-flowering plants, which could offer a new reservoir for immunity if we can transfer these into crops.”
The study is published in the journal The Plant Cell.
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