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

植物病害每年对农业生产和我们的粮食供应造成毁灭性的影响。大多数植物真菌病原体要么是生物营养的（只能感染活的宿主细胞），要么是坏死性的（只定植已经被杀死的宿主组织）。炭疽菌属真菌的成员是独特的，因为它们是半生物营养体，最初作为生物营养体感染，但后来转变为坏死。因此，人们可以比较和对比单个炭疽菌病理系统中与坏死和生物营养相关的因素。本项目将利用新描述的拟南芥-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，研究人员假设在宿主-病原体相互作用过程中，宿主防御和甘油代谢之间存在联系。这种联系以前没有被描述为植物与病原体的相互作用，但植物检测由病原体活性引起的代谢物水平变化的能力，并通过激活防御途径作出反应，无疑在进化上是有利的。研究人员将采用分子和生化方法，以拟南芥和炭疽杆菌为研究对象，验证宿主和病原体的甘油代谢在生物营养和坏死营养过程中感染和防御反应相关信号的成功建立中起重要作用的假设。拟南芥-炭疽菌模型病理系统的特征将为宿主防御信号和毒力所需的病原体成分提供关键信息。这一病理系统的研究成果将适用于遗传易感程度较低的系统，并可能有助于开发比目前广泛使用的化学杀菌剂成本更低、对环境和人类健康危害更小的替代疾病控制方法。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。研究人员将培养一个由本科生组成的社区，特别是那些来自传统上代表性不足的群体的学生，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大学现有的推广服务相结合，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.