DSSS - The role of microbial interactions in fungal pathogenicity
- Date: Nov 22, 2024
- Time: 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Eva H. Stukenbrock
- Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel and Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Kiel and Plön
- Location: NO.002, MPI für Intelligente Systeme
Zymoseptoria
tritici is an ascomycete pathogen that infects wild and
domesticated species of wheat causing the disease Septoria Leaf Blotch. This
fungus is one of the most devastating pathogens of wheat in temperate areas. In
spite of its agricultural importance, the infection biology of Z. tritici
is poorly understood. We have integrated evolutionary genomics, comparative
transcriptomics, proteomics and experimental approaches to decipher the
mechanisms that determine host specificity and allow successful plant invasion
by Z. tritici. Notably, we focused on the early invasion and the
extended “biotrophic” phase of Z. tritici considering these to be critical
stages for the pathogen to overcome plant defenses. Comparative transcriptome
analyses and proteome analyses of apoplastic fluid samples allowed us to
identify candidate proteins that are produced by the fungus and by the plant in
response to pathogen invasion. We focused our analyses on a set of
fungal-produced proteins and further investigated their function using targeted
gene deletion and heterologous gene expression. Hereby, we show that Z.
tritici produces effector proteins that specifically interact with
Pathogenicity Related (PR) proteins in wheat and thereby interfere with basic
immune response pathways. Intriguingly, some effector proteins share a
structural homology with proteins predicted to be antimicrobial. We further
tested the ability of Z. tritici effectors to inhibit the growth of
wheat-associated microbes. We show that a large number of effector candidates
indeed can inhibit bacterial growth. In summary, our research demonstrates a
close structural relatedness of effector proteins produced to interfere with
plant defense and plant-associated microbes. Our findings underline the
importance of considering ecological interactions in efforts to understand pathogen
evolution and virulence.