The image shows (from left to right):

an Arabidopsis thaliana plant (1, left), three detached Arabidopsis leaves infected with an oomycete, a bacterial and a fungal pathogen (2-4), stained plant cell death responses (5-6), localization of nuclear pore complex proteins (NUPs) to the nuclear envelope in transgenic Arabidopsis plants (7, 9-10), poly(A) mRNA subcellular distribution in an Arabidopsis nup mutant (8) and subcellular localization of a NLR immune receptor in a transiently transformed Nicotina benthamiana leaf (11, right).

Topics of the inaugural lecture:

In both natural and agricultural conditions, plants are constantly challenged by attacks of diverse microbial pathogens and evolved an elaborate immune system to resist infection by the majority of potential pathogens. A major barrier to microbial infection is conferred by innate immune responses of individual plant cells. These responses involve the transcriptional mobilization of defenses inside the host cell nucleus where the genetic information is enclosed by the double membrane of the nuclear envelope. The nuclear envelope acts as a selective compartment barrier that separates nuclear from cytoplasmic processes and provides all eukaryotic cells with an important regulatory means to control the specificity and timing of signaling events and gene expression.

Bidirectional trafficking of proteins and RNAs between the cytoplasm and the nucleus is highly selective and regulated by nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) that are composed of nucleoporins (NUPs) and span the nuclear envelope, as well as nuclear transport receptors (NTRs) that mediate nuclear import or export.

This inaugural lecture provides an overview of the current research topics of our group on NTR-mediated macromolecular communication processes across the nuclear envelope and discusses transport-independent NUP functions in plant defense signal transduction and gene expression. The lecture will start with a short introduction of plant-microbe interactions and the plant immune system.