The cytoskeleton is disrupted by the bacterial effector HrpZ, but not by the bacterial PAMP flg22, in tobacco BY-2 cells.

Plant innate immunity is composed of two layers. Basal immunity is triggered by pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) such as the flagellin-peptide flg22 and is termed PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). In addition, effector-triggered immunity (ETI) linked with programmed cell death and cytoskeletal reorganization can be induced by pathogen-derived factors, such as the Harpin proteins originating from phytopathogenic bacteria. To get insight into the link between cytoskeleton and PTI or ETI, this study followed the responses of actin filaments and microtubules to flg22 and HrpZ in vivo by spinning-disc confocal microscopy in GFP-tagged marker lines of tobacco BY-2. At a concentration that clearly impairs mitosis, flg22 can induce only subtle cytoskeletal responses. In contrast, HrpZ causes a rapid and massive bundling of actin microfilaments (completed in ~20 min, i.e. almost simultaneously with extracellular alkalinization), which is followed by progressive disintegration of actin cables and cytoplasmic microtubules, a loss of cytoplasmic structure, and vacuolar disintegration. Cytoskeletal disruption is proposed as an early event that discriminates HrpZ-triggered ETI-like defence from flg22-triggered PTI.