Barley disease susceptibility factor RACB acts in epidermal cell polarity and positioning of the nucleus

RHO GTPases are regulators of cell polarity and immunity in eukaryotes. In plants, RHO-like RAC/ROP GTPases are regulators of cell shaping, hormone responses, and responses to microbial pathogens. The barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) RAC/ROP protein RACB is required for full susceptibility to penetration by Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei (Bgh), the barley powdery mildew fungus. Disease susceptibility factors often control host immune responses. Here we show that RACB does not interfere with early microbe-associated molecular pattern-triggered immune responses such as the oxidative burst or activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases. RACB also supports rather than restricts expression of defence-related genes in barley. Instead, silencing of RACB expression by RNAi leads to defects in cell polarity. In particular, initiation and maintenance of root hair growth and development of stomatal subsidiary cells by asymmetric cell division is affected by silencing expression of RACB. Nucleus migration is a common factor of developmental cell polarity and cell-autonomous interaction with Bgh. RACB is required for positioning of the nucleus near the site of attack from Bgh. We therefore suggest that Bgh profits from RACB’s function in cell polarity rather than from immunity-regulating functions of RACB.