Variation in a single NLR protein mediates the trade-off between plant biotic and abiotic stress signaling

Abstract

Plants pre-exposed to stress acquire enhanced stress tolerance. Here we show that a locus, designated ACQOS, determines natural variation in acquired osmotolerance among Arabidopsis thaliana accessions. ACQOS is VICTR, a nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) protein shown previously to activate biotic resistance via the immune regulators EDS1 and PAD4. Under osmotic stress conditions, plants carrying functional ACQOS display detrimental autoimmunity, whereas those lacking it acquire osmotolerance, indicating that ACQOS activates immune pathways and resistance to bacteria, but suppresses osmotolerance. Our study reveals that variation in a single NLR protein mediates the trade-off between plant biotic and abiotic stress signaling.