A Förster resonance energy transfer sensor for live-cell imaging of mitogen-activated protein kinase activity in Arabidopsis

The catalytic activity of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) is dynamically modified in Plants. Since MAPKs have been shown to play important roles in a wide range of signaling pathways, the ability to monitor MAPK activity in living plant cells would be valuable. Here, we report the development of a genetically encoded MAPK activity sensor for use in Arabidopsis thaliana. The sensor is composed of yellow and blue fluorescent proteins, a phosphopeptide binding domain, a MAPK substrate domain and a flexible linker. Using in vitro testing, we demonstrated that phosphorylation causes an increase in the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiency of the sensor. The FRET efficiency can therefore serve as a readout of kinase activity. We also produced transgenic Arabidopsis lines expressing this sensor of MAPK activity (SOMA) and performed live-cell imaging experiments using detached cotyledons. Treatment with NaCl, the synthetic flagellin peptide flg22 and chitin all led to rapid gains in FRET efficiency. Control lines expressing a version of SOMA in which the phosphosite was mutated to an alanine did not show any substantial changes in FRET. We also expressed the sensor in a conditional loss-of-function double-mutant line for the Arabidopsis MAPK genes MPK3 and MPK6. These experiments demonstrated that MPK3/6 are necessary for the NaCl-induced FRET gain of the sensor, while other MAPKs are probably contributing to the chitin and flg22-induced increases in FRET. Taken together, our results suggest that SOMA is able to dynamically report MAPK activity in living plant cells.