The Arabidopsis eATP receptor, DORN1 and CNGC19 channel act in tandem to regulate plant defense upon Spodoptera litura herbivory

Abstract Plants deploy cellular Ca2+ elevation as a signal for environmental stress signaling. Extracellular ATP (eATP) is released into the extracellular matrix when cells are wounded. DOES NOT RESPOND TO NUCLEOTIDES 1 (DORN1), a key legume-type lectin receptor, senses and binds eATP and activates Ca2+ signaling. No evidence directly links calcium-mediated eATP signaling to resistance against insect herbivores. Here, we report upregulation of DORN1 transcripts upon wounding and Spodoptera litura feeding in Arabidopsis. Loss-of-function of DORN1 resulted in increased S. litura feeding compared to that on wildtype. Plant immunity is compromised in dorn1 mutants as they show reduced S. litura oral secretion mediated Ca2+ elevation, jasmonic acid accumulation, and expression of jasmonate responsive genes. The herbivory-induced calcium channel, CYCLIC NUCLEOTIDE GATED CHANNEL 19 (CNGC19), co-expresses with DORN1. We found that eATP-induced Ca2+ elevation requires functional CNGC19. Loss-of-function of DORN1 and CNGC19 highly increased the susceptibility to S. litura, mediated by reduced accumulation of jasmonates. We also demonstrate a plausible interaction of CNGC19 with DORN1. The data implicate the role of damage-released eATP and its receptor DORN1 in herbivory-induced defense signaling. DORN1 together with the Ca2+ channel CNGC19 generate the eATP-induced Ca2+ elevation, leading to the activation of immune signaling.