A tau class Glutathione-S-Transferase (OsGSTU5) acts as a negative regulator of VirE2 interaction with T-DNA during Agrobacterium infection in rice

During Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (AMT), T-DNA along with several virulence proteins like VirD2, VirE2, VirE3, VirD5, and VirF enter into the plant cytoplasm. VirE2 is supposed to serve as single-stranded DNA binding (SSB) protein and assist the cytoplasmic trafficking of T-DNA inside the host cell. In the present study, a rice glutathione-S-transferase (OsGSTU5) that interacts with VirE2 protein in plant cytoplasm has been identified. OsGSTU5 is observed to be involved in post-translational glutathionylation of VirE2 protein (gVirE2). In silico analysis revealed that gVirE2+ssDNA complex is structurally less stable than VirE2+ ssDNA complex. The gel shift activity confirms the attenuated SSB property of gVirE2 over VirE2 protein under in vitro condition. Moreover, knock-down and overexpression OsGSTU5 phenotypes of rice showed increased and decreased T-DNA expression, respectively after Agrobacterium infection. The present finding convincingly establishes the role of OsGSTU5 as defense protein in rice that can further serve as an important target for modulation of AMT efficiency in rice.