OsJAC1 mediates resistance to powdery mildew in rice. Understanding about the mechanism can therefore also contribute to feeding the world's population. Nikolai Huwa and Alexander Fejzagić and colleagues have now been able to publish the crystal structures of the two domains (PDB: 7YWG, 7YWE, 7R5Z, 7YWF, 7YWW). The publication in the journal Biomolecules documents for the first time that not only the lectin domain but also the dirigent protein domain can bind sugar structures. Although we still lack the crystal structure of the entire protein, we have come a little closer to solving the puzzle of the mode of action.
We would like to thank Oliver H. Weiergräber (FZJ), Christian Kirsch (RWTH) and Ulrich Schaffrath (RWTH) for their phenomenal collaboration, without which neither the research topic nor the crystal structures would have been known to the public.
The publication can be read at Biomolecules 2022, 12(8), 1126; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12081126.