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

植物病害每年都会对农业生产和我们的粮食供应造成毁灭性的影响。大多数真菌植物病原体要么是生物营养性的(只能感染活的宿主细胞)，要么是坏死性的(只定植于已经死亡的宿主组织)。炭疽菌属真菌的成员是独一无二的，因为它们是半营养生物，最初作为生物营养生物感染，但后来转变为死亡营养。因此，人们可以比较和对比与单个炭疽菌病理系统中的坏死营养和生物营养相关的因子。这个项目将利用最新描述的拟南芥-炭疽菌相互作用来剖析寄主-病原体信号转导的一个新方面。基于初步数据，研究人员假设在宿主-病原体相互作用期间，宿主防御和甘油代谢之间存在联系。植物与病原菌的相互作用以前没有描述过这种联系，但植物能够检测到病原菌活动引起的代谢物水平的变化，并通过激活防御途径做出反应，这无疑是进化上的优势。研究人员将使用分子和生化方法，针对拟南芥和炭疽菌，验证寄主和病原菌中的甘油代谢在成功建立感染和与生物营养和死亡期间的防御反应相关的信号方面发挥重要作用的假说。所提出的活动产生的智力优势和更广泛的影响：拟南芥-炭疽菌模型病理系统的特征将提供关于寄主防御信号和毒力所需的病原成分的关键信息。这一病理系统的研究结果将适用于基因不易控制的系统，并可能有助于开发与目前广泛使用的化学杀菌剂相比成本更低、对环境和人类健康危害更小的替代疾病控制措施。这项研究将包括对本科生、研究生和博士后的培训，并通过分享将产生的想法和材料来加强研究基础设施。研究人员将通过将本科生纳入他们的科学团队来培养他们的社区，特别是那些来自传统上代表性较低的群体的学生。他们还将把他们的研究与肯塔基大学提供的推广服务结合起来，以提高农民和农业企业代表对作物抗性最近进展的认识。

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.