Evolution of Hyaloperonospora effectors: ATR1 effector homologs from sister species of the downy mildew pathogen H. arabidopsidis are not recognised by RPP1WsB

Abstract

Like other plant-pathogenic oomycetes, downy mildew species of the genus Hyaloperonospora manipulate their hosts by secreting effector proteins. Despite intense research efforts devoted to deciphering the virulence and avirulence activities of effectors in the H. arabidopsidis/Arabidopsis thaliana pathosystem, there is only a single study in this pathosystem on the variation of effectors and resistance genes in natural populations, and the evolution of these effectors in the context of pathogen evolution is studied even less. In this work, the identification of Arabidopsisthaliana recognised (ATR)1-homologs is reported in two sister species of H. arabidopsidis, H. thlaspeos-perfoliati, and H. crispula, which are specialized on the host plants Microthlaspi perfoliatum and Reseda lutea, respectively. ATR1-diversity within these sister species of H. arabidopsidis was evaluated, and the ATR1-homologs from different isolates of H. thlaspeos-perfoliati and H. crispula were tested to see if they would be recognised by the previously characterised RPP1-WsB protein from A. thaliana. None of the effectors from the sister species was recognised, suggesting that due to the adaptation to altered or new targets after a host jump, features of variable effectors might vary to a degree that recognition of orthologous Avr-causing effectors is no longer effective and probably does not contribute to non-host immunity.