Interaction of a plant branching architecture affecting fungal effector with the plant E3 ubiquitin ligases RGLG1 and RGLG2

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jan Schirawski
• Subject Area: Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems ; Plant Physiology ; Metabolism, Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 493870324

Biotrophic fungal plant pathogens interact with their host plants through the secretion of effectors, small secreted proteins that end up within the host cell tissues and impact plant gene expression or regulation of plant protein activity. A few effectors have been shown to alter plant development possibly for better fungal colonization success. The effector SAD1 of Sporisorium reilianum has been shown to alter plant inflorescence branching architecture both in S. reilianum-infected maize (Zea mays cv. ‘Gaspe Flint’) and in Arabidopsis thaliana lines stably expressing SAD1, by an as yet unknown mechanism. We have shown that SAD1 interacts with the E3 ubiquitin ligases RGLG1 and RGLG2 of both maize and Arabidopsis. In this proposal, we want to characterize the functional interaction of SAD1 with these E3 Ubiquitin ligases, in vitro and in planta, its localization and distribution within the plant tissue, as well as the putative role of myristoylation of both RGLG1/2 and SAD1 for interaction and distribution within subcellular compartments. This will lead to a better understanding of how effectors may impact primary plant developmental processes, which in turn may also lead to a better understanding of the factors determining plant inflorescence branching architecture.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants