TY - JOUR TI - Widespread premature transcription termination of Arabidopsis thaliana NLR genes by the spen protein FPA AU - Parker, Matthew T AU - Knop, Katarzyna AU - Zacharaki, Vasiliki AU - Sherwood, Anna V AU - Tomé, Daniel AU - Yu, Xuhong AU - Martin, Pascal GP AU - Beynon, Jim AU - Michaels, Scott D AU - Barton, Geoffrey J AU - Simpson, Gordon G A2 - Yu, Hao A2 - Weigel, Detlef A2 - Eunyoung, Chae A2 - Meyers, Blake C VL - 10 PY - 2021 DA - 2021/04/27 SP - e65537 C1 - eLife 2021;10:e65537 DO - 10.7554/eLife.65537 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.65537 AB - Genes involved in disease resistance are some of the fastest evolving and most diverse components of genomes. Large numbers of nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich repeat (NLR) genes are found in plant genomes and are required for disease resistance. However, NLRs can trigger autoimmunity, disrupt beneficial microbiota or reduce fitness. It is therefore crucial to understand how NLRs are controlled. Here, we show that the RNA-binding protein FPA mediates widespread premature cleavage and polyadenylation of NLR transcripts, thereby controlling their functional expression and impacting immunity. Using long-read Nanopore direct RNA sequencing, we resolved the complexity of NLR transcript processing and gene annotation. Our results uncover a co-transcriptional layer of NLR control with implications for understanding the regulatory and evolutionary dynamics of NLRs in the immune responses of plants. KW - NLR KW - nanopore KW - direct RNA sequencing KW - spen KW - m6A KW - alternative polyadenylation JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -