RIG/CAA: Demolition of Ceramide Synthesis Genes in Magnaporthe grisea with Putative Roles in Pathogenicity

Sherrice Vallette AllenProposal#0641823稻瘟菌中神经酰胺合成基因的解体及其在致病中的可能作用由稻瘟菌引起的稻瘟病对世界上最重要的粮食作物构成严重威胁，每年损失10%-30%。病原体可以侵染植物的所有部位，最具破坏性的情况是在穗部下方的颈部定植。真菌通过感染结构附着胞的穿透，需要多种因素，如物理和生化信号。附着胞是一种高度黑化的细胞，它建立了足够的膨胀压力，迫使穿透植物角质层的钉子进入下面的组织。神经酰胺单己糖苷(CMHS)是一种被认为在这种形态转变中起作用的化合物。这个项目将有助于理解CMHS如何影响稻瘟病菌的生物学，以及确定它们在附着胞形成和感染中的作用。此外，芳基硫酸酯酶被认为有助于维持神经酰胺单己糖苷的细胞库。具体目的我将通过在编码这种酶的基因中产生干扰突变来检验这一假设。特定目标II将集中于确定每个基因在附着胞形成和真菌毒力中的作用。缺乏CMHS生物合成关键酶活性的突变体的产生是研究真菌发育和分化的基础应用。该项目的具体目标将利用可由本科生和研究生研究人员执行的分子和基因技术来实现。该项目的更广泛影响将是为代表性不足的少数民族研究生和本科生提供微生物-植物病因学方面的研究经验，这是一个传统上不被代表性不足的少数民族追求的领域。此外，拟议中的研究还将增加费耶特维尔州立大学日益增长的研究社区，费耶特维尔州立大学是一所历史悠久的黑人大学，可以与北卡罗来纳州立大学真菌基因组实验室发展伙伴关系。

Sherrice Vallette AllenProposal # 0641823Demolition of Ceramide Synthesis Gene in Magnaporthe grisea with Putative Roles in PathogenicityRice blast, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe grisea, poses a serious threat to the world's most important food crop with losses between 10-30% of annual harvest. The pathogen can infect all parts of the plant, with the most devastating situation being colonization of the neck just below the panicle. Fungal penetration via an infection structure, the appressorium, requires a variety of factors such as physical and biochemical signals. The appressorium is a highly melanized cell that builds up sufficient turgor pressure to force a penetration peg through the plant cuticle to gain access to the underlying tissues. Ceramide monohexosides (CMHs) are compounds hypothesized to have a role in this morphological transition. This project will aid in understanding how CMHs influence the biology of M. grisea, as well as establishing their role in appressorium formation and infection. In addition, it is thought that the enzyme arylsulfatase assists in maintaining the cellular pool of ceramide monohexosides. Specific Aim I will test this hypothesis by creating disruption mutants in genes that encode this enzyme . Specific Aim II will concentrate on determining the role of each gene in appressorium formation and fungal virulence. The generation of mutants lacking key enzymatic activities involved in CMHs biosynthesis is a fundamental application to study fungal development and differentiation. The specific aims of this project will be carried out utilizing molecular and genetic techniques that can be performed by undergraduate and graduate student researchers. The broader impacts of this project will be to provide research experiences for underrepresented minority graduate and undergraduate students in microbial-plant pathogenesis, an area not traditionally pursued by underrepresented minorities. Also, the proposed research will add to a growing research community at Fayetteville State University, a historically black university, allowing for the development of partnerships with the North Carolina State University Fungal Genomics laboratory.