IGLR-2, a Leucine-Rich Repeat Domain Containing Protein, Is Required for the Host Defense in .

Enterohemorrhagic (EHEC), a human pathogen, also infects . We demonstrated previously that activates the p38 MAPK innate immune pathway to defend against EHEC infection. However, whether a pattern recognition receptor (PRR) exists to regulate the immune pathway remains unknown. PRRs identified in other metazoans contain several conserved domains, including the leucine-rich repeat (LRR). By screening a focused RNAi library, we identified the IGLR-2, a transmembrane protein containing the LRR domain, as a potential immune regulator in . Our data showed that regulates the host susceptibility to EHEC infection. Moreover, is required for pathogen avoidance to EHEC. The overexpressed strain, which was more resistant to EHEC originally, showed hypersusceptibility to EHEC upon knockdown of the p38 MAPK pathway. Together, our data suggested that plays an important role in to defend EHEC by regulating pathogen-avoidance behavior and the p38 MAPK pathway.