TAL effector

TAL (transcription activator-like) effectors (often referred to as TALEs, but not to be confused with the three amino acid loop extension homeobox sub-family of proteins) are proteins secreted by Xanthomonas bacteria via their type III secretion system when they infect various plant species. These proteins can bind promoter sequences in the host plant and activate the expression of plant genes that aid bacterial infection. They recognize plant DNA sequences through a central repeat domain consisting of a variable number of ~34 amino acid repeats. There appears to be a one-to-one correspondence between the identity of two critical amino acids in each repeat and each DNA base in the target sequence. These proteins are interesting to researchers both for their role in disease of important crop species and the relative ease of retargeting them to bind new DNA sequences. Similar proteins can be found in the pathogenic bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum and Burkholderia rhizoxinica., as well as yet unidentified marine microorganisms. The term TALE-likes is used to refer to the putative protein family encompassing the TALEs and these related proteins.

Xanthomonas are Gram-negative bacteria that can infect a wide variety of plant species including pepper, rice, citrus, cotton, tomato, and soybeans. Some types of Xanthomonas cause localized leaf spot or leaf streak while others spread systemically and cause black rot or leaf blight disease. They inject a number of effector proteins, including TAL effectors, into the plant via their type III secretion system. TAL effectors have several motifs normally associated with eukaryotes including multiple nuclear localization signals and an acidic activation domain. When injected into plants, these proteins can enter the nucleus of the plant cell, bind plant promoter sequences, and activate transcription of plant genes that aid in bacterial infection. Plants have developed a defense mechanism against type III effectors that includes R (resistance) genes triggered by these effectors. Some of these R genes appear to have evolved to contain TAL-effector binding sites similar to site in the intended target gene. This competition between pathogenic bacteria and the host plant has been hypothesized to account for the apparently malleable nature of the TAL effector DNA binding domain.

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