Tomato mitogen-activated protein kinases LeMPK1, LeMPK2, and LeMPK3 are activated during the cf-4/Avr4-induced hypersensitive response and have distinct phosphorylation specificities

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants with the Cf-4 resistance gene recognize strains of the pathogenic fungus Cladosporium fulvum that secrete the avirulence protein Avr4. Transgenic tomato seedlings coexpressing Cf-4 and Avr4 mount a hypersensitive response (HR) at 20 degrees C, which is suppressed at 33 degrees C. Within 120 min after a shift from 33 degrees C to 20 degrees C, tomato mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (LeMPK) activity increases in Cf-4/Avr4 seedlings. Searching tomato genome databases revealed at least 16 LeMPK sequences, including the sequence of LeMPK1, LeMPK2, and LeMPK3 that cluster with biotic stress-related MAP kinase orthologs from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). LeMPK1, LeMPK2, and LeMPK3 are simultaneously activated in Cf-4/Avr4 seedlings, and, to reveal whether they are functionally redundant or not, recombinant LeMPKs were incubated on PepChip Kinomics slides carrying peptides with potential phosphorylation sites. Phosphorylated peptides and motifs present in them discriminated between the phosphorylation specificities of LeMPK1, LeMPK2, and LeMPK3. LeMPK1, LeMPK2, or LeMPK3 activity was specifically suppressed in Cf-4-tomato by virus-induced gene silencing and leaflets were either injected with Avr4 or challenged with C. fulvum-secreting Avr4. The results of these experiments suggested that the LeMPKs have different but also overlapping roles with regard to HR and full resistance in tomato.