Conserved oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex genes functioning in defense are expressed in root cells undergoing a defense response to a pathogenic infection and exhibit regulation my MAPKs

Authors: Klink, Vincent; DARWISH, OMAR - Texas Woman'S University; ALKHAROUF, NADIM - Towson University; LAWAJU, BISHO - Auburn University; KHATRI, RISHI - Mississippi State University; LAWRENCE, KATHERINE - Auburn University

Submitted to: PLOS ONE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/6/2021
Publication Date: 8/26/2021
Citation: Klink, V.P., Darwish, O., Alkharouf, N.W., Lawaju, B.R., Khatri, R., Lawrence, K.S. 2021. Conserved oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex genes functioning in defense are expressed in root cells undergoing a defense response to a pathogenic infection and exhibit regulation my MAPKs. PLoS ONE. 16/e0256472. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256472.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256472

Interpretive Summary: Genes expressed in a root cell undergoing a defense response to a pathogen have been identified. Their expression relates to genes that have been shown to function in the defense response to a pathogen. Events that relate to the regulation of the expression of those defense genes have been identified. Related genes have been identified in a number of important agricultural crops providing new knowledge for genes of agricultural importance.

Technical Abstract: The conserved oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex, functioning in the homeostasis of enzyme glycosylation, maintains the correct Golgi structure and function in eukaryotes during retrograde trafficking in processes occurring between the Golgi cisternae. The COG complex is multimeric, composed of 8 subunits clustered into 2 sub-complexes each composed of 4 proteins. The Glycine max genome has 2 paralogs of each COG gene, one paralog of each gene family functioning in defense to the parasitic nematode Heterodera glycines. Laser microdissection, followed by cell-type specific gene expression analyses, genome and gene expression analyses of COG genes in mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK)-overexpressing lines have been performed. G. max COG paralogs functioning in defense are expressed specifically in the root cells (syncytia) undergoing the defense response. One of expressed COG genes (COG7-2; Phytozome ID: Glyma.12G013000.2) may be an alternate splice variant, indicating specific variants are important to defense. COG complex paralogs are found in a number of plants that are agriculturally relevant on a world-wide scale including Manihot esculenta, Zea mays, Oryza sativa, Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vulgare, Sorghum bicolor, Brassica rapa, Elaes guineensis and Saccharum officinalis and also in additional crops significant to U.S. agriculture including Beta vulgaris, Solanum tuberosum, Solanum lycopersicum and Gossypium hirsutum. Lastly, MAPKs influence COG gene expression. The analyses have been performed to provide basic information on COG complex biology that did not previously exist, identifying important avenues for future research broadly in plants. COG complex genes appear to have copy numbers relating to ploidy level while additional diversity appears to relate to alternate splicing. Furthermore, G. max COG genes also appear to be under transcriptional regulation by MAPKs, a signaling pathway known to function broadly during various stress responses in different plants.