A multidisciplinary approach to elucidate virulence functions of oomycete effetor proteins

• Applicant: Dr. Lennart Wirthmüller
• Subject Area: Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems
• Term: Funded in 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 168600103

In order to cause disease on host plants, plant pathogens have to suppress plant innate immunity. Bacterial and filamentous plant pathogens accomplish this by transporting specialised effector proteins into host cells that manipulate the plant s immune response. This proposal aims to unravel the virulence functions of effector proteins from the oomycete pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis (Hpa), that infects Arabidopsis thaliana. I will use a multidisciplinary approach combining structural biology, molecular biology and plant pathology to reveal how oomycete effectors suppress plant immunity. Track I of this proposal takes a structural biology approach by X-ray crystallography to elucidate the threedimensional structures of Hpa effectors that suppress plant defence. Track II focusses on identification of host targets of these effectors. A number of candidate effector targets have been identified in yeast-two-hybrid (Y2H) screens. These interactions will be validated in vitro and in plant cells. Affinity purification of Hpa effectors from Arabidopsis tissue and identification of co-purifying proteins by mass spectrometry will be employed for those effectors that did not pick up interacting proteins in Y2H. These combined efforts will give insights into how Hpa manipulates the plant defence system and will identify new nodes of plant immune signalling.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professor Dr. Jonathan Jones, Ph.D.