Glycerol Metabolism and its Role in Biotrophy Versus Necrotrophy in an Arabidopsis/Fungal Hemibiotroph Model system.

植物病害每年都对农业生产和我们的粮食供应造成破坏性影响。大多数真菌植物病原体要么是活体营养型（只能感染活的宿主细胞），要么是坏死营养型（只在已经被杀死的宿主组织中定植）。真菌属Colletotrichum的成员是独特的，因为它们是半生物营养型，最初作为生物营养型感染，但后来转变为坏死营养型。因此，人们可以比较和对比相关的因素，在一个单一的炭疽菌病理系统的坏死和生物营养。 该项目将利用新描述的刺盘孢-炭疽病相互作用来剖析宿主-病原体信号传导的新方面。根据初步数据，研究人员假设宿主防御和甘油代谢之间的联系，在宿主-病原体相互作用。这种联系以前没有描述过植物-病原体相互作用，但植物检测病原体活动导致的代谢物水平变化的能力，以及通过激活防御途径做出反应的能力无疑是进化上有利的。研究人员将使用分子和生物化学方法，以拟南芥和炭疽菌为目标，来验证以下假设：宿主和病原体中的甘油代谢在成功建立感染以及与生物营养和坏死营养期间的防御反应相关的信号传导中起着重要作用。对刺盘孢-炭疽菌模式致病系统的研究将为寄主防御信号和致病力所需的病原体组分提供重要信息。从这个病理系统的研究结果将适用于遗传不易处理的系统，并可能有助于替代疾病控制的发展，成本较低，对环境和人类健康的危害较小，比目前广泛使用的化学杀真菌剂。这项研究将包括本科生，研究生和博士后学生的培训，并通过分享将产生的想法和材料来加强研究基础设施。研究人员将培养一个本科生社区，特别是那些传统上代表性不足的群体，将他们纳入他们的科学团队。他们还将把他们的研究与肯塔基州大学提供的推广服务结合起来，以提高农民和农业综合企业代表对作物抗性最新进展的认识。

Plant diseases have a devastating impact on agricultural production and our food supply every year. Most fungal plant pathogens are either biotrophic (able to infect only live host cells) or necrotrophic (colonizing only host tissues that have already been killed). Members of the fungal genus Colletotrichum are unique because they are hemibiotrophs, initially infecting as biotrophs, but switching later to necrotrophy. Thus, one can compare and contrast factors relevant to necrotrophy and biotrophy in a single Colletotrichum pathosystem. This project will utilize the newly described Arabidopsis-Colletotrichum disease interaction to dissect a novel aspect of host-pathogen signaling. Based on preliminary data, the investigators hypothesize a link between host defense and glycerol metabolism during the host-pathogen interaction. Such a link has not been described previously for plant-pathogen interactions, but an ability of the plant to detect alterations in metabolite levels that result from pathogen activity, and to respond by activating defense pathways would undoubtedly be evolutionarily advantageous. The investigators will use molecular and biochemical approaches, targeting both Arabidopsis and Colletotrichum, to test the hypothesis that glycerol metabolism in host and pathogen plays an important role in the successful establishment of the infection and the signaling related to defense responses during biotrophy and necrotrophy.Intellectual merit and Broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity: Characterization of the Arabidopsis-Colletotrichum model pathosystem will provide critical information about host defense signaling and pathogen components required for virulence. Research findings from this pathosystem will be applicable to less genetically tractable systems, and may help in the development of alternative disease controls that are less costly and less harmful to the environment and human health than the chemical fungicides that are currently widely used. This research will incorporate training of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students, and enhance the research infrastructure through sharing of the ideas and materials that will be generated. The investigators will foster a community of undergraduate students, particularly those from traditionally underrepresented groups, by including them as members of their scientific team. They also will integrate their research with the extension services available at the University of Kentucky to enhance awareness of the recent advances in crop resistance among farmers and agribusiness representatives.