Evolutionary links between bacterial and plant immunity

A special emphasis in our lab is given to the discovery of immune mechanisms shared between bacteria and eukaryotes. We found parallels between the plant immune system and the bacterial one, involving immune protein domains called “TIR”. We found that in bacteria, these domains recognize virus infection, and then produce small signaling molecules that are derivatives of ADP-ribose. These immune signaling molecules mediate the bacterial immune response. We then found that immune TIR domains in plants also produce ADPR signaling molecules similar to those produced by bacteria (Ofir, Nature 2021; Leavitt, Nature 2022). TIR-derived signaling molecules are now considered major players in plant immunity.