Integrin-Linked Kinases 1, 4, and 5 participate in cell wall-mediated innate immunity to leaf and root pathogens
ORCID
George V. Popescu: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7580-6792
MSU Affiliation
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Department of Biochemistry, Nutrition and Health Promotion; Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing, and Biotechnology; James Worth Bagley College of Engineering; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Institute for Imaging and Analytical Technologies
Creation Date
2026-09-30
Abstract
The cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway is triggered by plasma membrane-localized receptors in plant cells and serves to orchestrate responses to cell wall damage by initiating compensatory changes under stressful environments. The essential role of CWI maintenance as part of plants' interactions with pests or pathogens and during growth is well known. Nevertheless, CWI pathways remain to be fully characterized. Here, we show that altered Integrin-Linked Kinase 1 (ILK1) expression causes widespread defects in the transcriptional program activated by the bacterial elicitor flg22, primarily in genes associated with cell wall integrity and immunity. These transcriptional deficiencies are recapitulated in mutant lines with altered ILK4 or ILK5 expression. Analysis of molecular and cellular defenses in ilk mutants revealed reduced callose accumulation in leaves treated with bacterial (elf18) and plant (pep1) elicitors and increased pathogen susceptibility. Histochemical analysis of cell-wall-associated staining across diverse cells and organs of ilk mutants revealed modified lignin-associated patterns in the root xylem and altered calcofluor staining patterns in the seed coat. All ilk mutants exhibited altered root morphology due to mechano-touch and high-NaCl stress. Based on these results, we propose that ILKs contribute to pathways connecting elicitor-triggered immune signaling with cell-wall-associated stress responses and that ILK-related defense functions may extend to the cotton root-nematode interaction, while the mechanism remains to be elucidated.
Keywords
integrin-linked kinases, cell wall integrity, innate immunity, root-knot nematode
Publication Date
8-4-2026
Publication Title
Plant Science
Publisher
Elsevier
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Rights
© 2026 The Authors
Recommended Citation
Dimlioglu, G., Nejat, N., Cooley, E. G., Srivastava, H., Stevens, J. H., Bokros, N. T., Gaudin, A. G., Rivers, O., Wubben, M., Popescu, S. C., & Popescu, G. V. (2026). Integrin-Linked Kinases 1, 4, and 5 participate in cell wall-mediated innate immunity to leaf and root pathogens. Plant Science, 372, 113346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2026.113346
