ATL9 Antibody
Description
Introduction to ATL9 Antibody
The ATL9 antibody is a specialized immunological tool developed to detect and study ATL9, a RING zinc finger E3 ubiquitin ligase in Arabidopsis thaliana. This protein plays a critical role in plant innate immunity, particularly in chitin-triggered defense responses against biotrophic pathogens like Golovinomyces cichoracearum . The antibody enables researchers to investigate ATL9's expression patterns, subcellular localization, and post-translational regulation, providing insights into its function in pathogen resistance.
Key Applications of ATL9 Antibody in Research
The ATL9 antibody has been utilized in multiple experimental contexts to elucidate the protein's role in plant defense mechanisms:
Domain-Specific Roles
The antibody facilitated critical discoveries about ATL9's structural components:
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RING domain: Essential for E3 ligase activity; His156→Tyr156 mutations abolished self-ubiquitination and prolonged protein half-life .
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PEST domain: Mediates rapid degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) .
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Transmembrane domain: Required for ER localization and proper immune function .
Immune Response Modulation
Studies using the ATL9 antibody revealed:
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ATL9 expression peaks within 1 hour post-infection (hpi) and again at 24-48 hpi, correlating with ROS production via NADPH oxidases .
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atl9 mutants show 2.5× increased susceptibility to powdery mildew compared to wild-type plants .
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Overexpression lines exhibit 50% reduction in fungal conidiophores per colony .
Technical Validation of ATL9 Antibody
The antibody's specificity was confirmed through:
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Complementary transgenic lines: ATL9-GFP fusions restored wild-type resistance phenotypes in atl9 mutants .
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Domain-deletion mutants: ΔTM, ΔRING, and ΔPEST constructs showed loss-of-function phenotypes despite antibody detection .
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Temporal resolution: Captured dynamic expression changes during early (1 hpi) and late (24-48 hpi) infection phases .
Research Limitations and Future Directions
While indispensable for current studies, the ATL9 antibody has limitations:
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Species specificity restricts use to Arabidopsis and closely related plants.
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Cannot distinguish between ubiquitinated and non-ubiquitinated ATL9 forms.
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Requires combination with ROS detection assays for full pathway analysis .
Ongoing efforts focus on developing isoform-specific antibodies and quantitative mass spectrometry protocols to study ATL9's interaction network.
Product Specs
Constituents: 50% Glycerol, 0.01M PBS, pH 7.4
Target Background
- Utilizing a GFP control protein, we demonstrated that ATL9 is a short-lived protein within plant cells and undergoes degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. ATL9 possesses two transmembrane domains (TM), a RING zinc-finger domain, and a PEST domain. Through analysis of a series of deletion mutants, we determined that the PEST domain and the RING domain influence ATL9 degradation. PMID: 29161311
- ATL9, a RING zinc finger protein with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity, is implicated in chitin- and NADPH oxidase-mediated defense responses. PMID: 21203445
