2. Academic Validation
  3. Pathogen-induced H2O2 triggers phosphorylation of the RNA-binding protein RRM2R to suppress OsMAPKKK18 intron retention for orchestrating rice immunity and growth

Pathogen-induced H2O2 triggers phosphorylation of the RNA-binding protein RRM2R to suppress OsMAPKKK18 intron retention for orchestrating rice immunity and growth

  • Mol Plant. 2026 Jan 5;19(1):116-133. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2025.11.007.
Xiang Lu 1,  Yibang An 2,  Wenxiu Lu 2,  Jing Li 2,  Qing Xiong 2,  Miaomiao Zhu 2,  Yao He 2,  Jia Yang 2,  Yue Wang 2,  Zeming Zhang 2,  Xiaorong Gong 2,  Yulong Qian 2,  Wenyangyang Yu 2,  Yuchun Shao 2,  Huabin Zhou 2,  Xiaolin Chen 2,  Haijuan Tang 3,  Qingqing Hou 2,  Hui Shi 2,  Junjie Yin 2,  Yongyan Tang 2,  Xiaobo Zhu 2,  Yang Zhou 3,  Li Song 2,  Long Wang 2,  Min He 2,  Weitao Li 2,  Jing Wang 4,  Xuewei Chen 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611134 Chengdu, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics (Ministry of Education), Sichuan Agricultural University, 611134 Chengdu, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 2 New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611134 Chengdu, China.
  • 3 College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611134 Chengdu, China.
  • 4 New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611134 Chengdu, China; College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611134 Chengdu, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 5 New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Exploration and Utilization in Southwest China, Sichuan Agricultural University, 611134 Chengdu, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 41254943 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2025.11.007
Abstract

Alternative splicing plays a vital role in plant immunity, but how Plants stringently and selectively regulate alternative splicing to coordinate immunity and growth is poorly understood. Here, we report that H2O2-triggered phosphorylation of the RNA-binding protein RRM2R releases a retained-intron brake in OsMAPKKK18 encoding a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase to orchestrate plant immunity and growth in rice. We found that, without pathogen Infection, OsMAPKKK18β transcripts containing a retained intron are subjected to nonsense-mediated mRNA decay to promote plant growth. Upon Magnaporthe oryzae pathogen invasion, H2O2 activates the protein kinase OsCLK1 to phosphorylate and stabilize RRM2R, which interacts with OsRNPS1A/B to recruit spliceosome machinery and promote the production of OsMAPKKK18α transcripts without the retained intron to promote rice immunity. Furthermore, we revealed that after the endogenous H2O2 is consumed or degraded by peroxidases or catalases, decreased abundance of RRM2R reduces the accumulation of OsMAPKKK18α transcripts to avoid autoimmunity in rice. Taken together, the results of our study uncover H2O2-controlled OsMAPKKK18 intron retention as a novel molecular switch for orchestrating immunity and growth in rice.

Keywords

H(2)O(2); PTI; RNA-binding protein; alternative splicing; ethylene; immunity and growth; intron retention; phosphorylation.

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