Engineered pattern recognition receptors enhance broad-spectrum plant resistance.

Engineering the Arabidopsis receptor-like protein RLP23 into tomato confers broad-spectrum resistance against bacterial, fungal, and oomycete pathogens without yield loss.

• Why it matters: Current crop resistance breeding mainly targets intracellular immune receptors, leaving cell-surface pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) underutilized despite their potential for durable, broad-spectrum protection.
• What they did: The study introduced RLP23 into tomato and identified the C-terminal domain as essential for effective heterologous expression; targeted engineering of this domain enhanced resistance.
• The result: Engineered RLP23 provided robust, broad-spectrum pathogen resistance in tomato and was successfully applied to rice and poplar, establishing a versatile approach for sustainable crop protection.