Projects per year
Abstract
Oomycetes such as the potato blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans deliver RXLR effectors into plant cells to manipulate host processes and promote disease. Knowledge of where they localize inside host cells is important in understanding their function. Fifty-two P. infestans RXLR effectors (PiRXLRs) up-regulated during early stages of infection were expressed as fluorescent protein (FP) fusions inside cells of the model host Nicotiana benthamiana. FP-PiRXLR fusions were predominantly nucleo-cytoplasmic, nuclear, or plasma membrane-associated. Some also localized to the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, peroxisomes, or microtubules, suggesting diverse sites of subcellular activity. Seven of the 25 PiRXLRs examined during infection accumulated at sites of haustorium penetration, probably due to co-localization with host target processes; Pi16663 (Avr1), for example, localized to Sec5-associated mobile bodies which showed perihaustorial accumulation. Forty-five FP-RXLR fusions enhanced pathogen leaf colonization when expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana, revealing that their presence was beneficial to infection. Co-expression of PiRXLRs that target and suppress different immune pathways resulted in an additive enhancement of colonization, indicating the potential to study effector combinations using transient expression assays. We provide a broad platform of high confidence P. infestans effector candidates from which to investigate the mechanisms, singly and in combination, by which this pathogen causes disease.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 343-356 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Botany |
Volume | 70 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 16 Oct 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2019 |
Keywords
- Avirulence
- biotrophy
- effector-triggered susceptibility
- pathogenicity
- Phytophthora
- RXLR effector
- virulence
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- 6 Finished
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Studying Co Evolution in Agriculture to Inform NLR Deployment (Industrial Partnership Award - IPA)
Hein, I. (Investigator)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
1/12/19 → 31/08/23
Project: Research
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The Roles of Extracellular Vesicle Transport in Late Blight Disease Development (Industrial Partnership Award (IPA))
Birch, P. (Investigator)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
1/03/19 → 30/09/24
Project: Research
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Undermining Effector-Targeted Susceptibility Factors to Provide Late Blight Resistance (Industrial Partnership award)
Birch, P. (Investigator)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
1/04/16 → 31/10/19
Project: Research
Student theses
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Secretion and delivery of virulence proteins from Phytophthora infestans to its host
Wang, S. (Author), Birch, P. (Supervisor), Boevink, P. (Supervisor) & Whisson, S. (Supervisor), 2019Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy