Toll proteins or Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and the interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R) superfamily are both involved in innate antibacterial and antifungal immunity in insects as well as in mammals. These receptors share a conserved cytoplasmic domain of approximately 200 amino acids, known as the Toll/IL-1R homologous region (TIR). The similarity between TLRs and IL-1Rs is not restricted to sequence homology since these proteins also share a similar signaling pathway. They both induce the activation of a Rel type transcription factor via an adaptor protein and a protein kinase [ (PUBMED:10231569) ]. Interestingly, MyD88, a cytoplasmic adaptor protein found in mammals, contains a TIR domain associated to a DEATH domain [ (PUBMED:8621445) (PUBMED:9374458) (PUBMED:10679407) ]. Besides the mammalian and Drosophila proteins, a TIR domain is also found in a number of plant cytoplasmic proteins implicated in host defense [Van der Biezen E.A., Jones J.D., Trends Biochem. Sci. 23:454-456(1998)].
Site directed mutagenesis and deletion analysis have shown that the TIR domain is essential for Toll and IL-1R activities. Sequence analysis have revealed the presence of three highly conserved regions among the different members of the family: box 1 (FDAFISY), box 2 (GYKLC-RD-PG), and box 3 (a conserved W surrounded by basic residues). It has been proposed that boxes 1 and 2 are involved in the binding of proteins involved in signalling, whereas box 3 is primarily involved in directing localization of receptor, perhaps through interactions with cytoskeletal elements [ (PUBMED:10671496) ].
Resolution of the crystal structures of the TIR domains of human Toll-like receptors 1 and 2 has shown that they contain a central five-stranded parallel beta-sheet that is surrounded by a total of five helices on both sides [ (PUBMED:11081518) ].
Plant disease resistance genes encode members of an ancient and diverse protein family within the nucleotide-binding superfamily.
Plant J. 1999; 20: 317-32
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The nucleotide binding site (NBS) is a characteristic domain of many plant resistance gene products. An increasing number of NBS-encoding sequences are being identified through gene cloning, PCR amplification with degenerate primers, and genome sequencing projects. The NBS domain was analyzed from 14 known plant resistance genes and more than 400 homologs, representing 26 genera of monocotyledonous, dicotyle-donous and one coniferous species. Two distinct groups of diverse sequences were identified, indicating divergence during evolution and an ancient origin for these sequences. One group was comprised of sequences encoding an N-terminal domain with Toll/Interleukin-1 receptor homology (TIR), including the known resistance genes, N, M, L6, RPP1 and RPP5. Surprisingly, this group was entirely absent from monocot species in searches of both random genomic sequences and large collections of ESTs. A second group contained monocot and dicot sequences, including the known resistance genes, RPS2, RPM1, I2, Mi, Dm3, Pi-B, Xa1, RPP8, RPS5 and Prf. Amino acid signatures in the conserved motifs comprising the NBS domain clearly distinguished these two groups. The Arabidopsis genome is estimated to contain approximately 200 genes that encode related NBS motifs; TIR sequences were more abundant and outnumber non-TIR sequences threefold. The Arabidopsis NBS sequences currently in the databases are located in approximately 21 genomic clusters and 14 isolated loci. NBS-encoding sequences may be more prevalent in rice. The wide distribution of these sequences in the plant kingdom and their prevalence in the Arabidopsis and rice genomes indicate that they are ancient, diverse and common in plants. Sequence inferences suggest that these genes encode a novel class of nucleotide-binding proteins.
The product of the tobacco mosaic virus resistance gene N: similarity to toll and the interleukin-1 receptor.
Cell. 1994; 78: 1101-15
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The products of plant disease resistance genes are postulated to recognize invading pathogens and rapidly trigger host defense responses. Here we describe isolation of the resistance gene N of tobacco that mediates resistance to the viral pathogen tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). The N gene was isolated by transposon tagging using the maize Activator transposon. A genomic DNA fragment containing the N gene conferred TMV resistance to TMV susceptible tobacco. Sequence analysis of the N gene shows that it encodes a protein of 131.4 kDa with an amino-terminal domain similar to that of the cytoplasmic domain of the Drosophila Toll protein and the interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R) in mammals, a nucleotide-binding site (NBS), and 14 [corrected] imperfect leucine-rich repeats (LRR). The sequence similarity of N, Toll, and IL-1R suggests that N mediates rapid gene induction and TMV resistance through a Toll-IL-1-like pathway.
Metabolism (metabolic pathways involving proteins which contain this domain)
This information is based on mapping of SMART genomic protein database to KEGG orthologous groups. Percentage points are related to the number of proteins with TIR domain which could be assigned to a KEGG orthologous group, and not all proteins containing TIR domain. Please note that proteins can be included in multiple pathways, ie. the numbers above will not always add up to 100%.
