Monitoring maize and Ustilago maydis RNA and protein expression during tassel infections

监测雄穗感染期间玉米和黑粉菌 RNA 和蛋白质的表达

• 批准号: 0852788
• 负责人: Virginia Walbot
• 金额: $ 19.1万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-03-01 至 2010-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0852788&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Monitoring; maize; Ustilago; maydis; RNA

The fungal pathogen Ustilago maydis infects many plants, however, only in corn (Zea mays L.) does infection cause cancer. The fungus proliferates outside plant cells and elicits tumors through predicted secreted proteins that interact with maize cells. To date the plant-fungal interaction has been studied using fungal mutants and little is known about maize contributions that confer the tumor outcome. In this project changes in maize and Ustilago gene expression will be monitored during the early stages of infection/cancer induction by cataloguing the genes expressed and production of new proteins by each partner. Data will be collected from infected, immature maize tassels (the organ responsible for producing pollen), because they are readily infected and maize mutants with defective anthers in an otherwise normal tassel block tumor formation specifically in the anther tissues. RNA and protein responses will be analyzed comparing susceptible wild-type anthers to a male-sterile mutant for additional insight into the maize anther proteins required for tumor growth. The potential impacts are a novel approach to understanding steps in anther development in maize and by extension other cereal crops and better understanding of how pathogens exploit host properties that are specific to one organ type. The long-term aim is define the individual steps in tumor elicitation, using as a working model production of fungal molecules that bind to maize receptors to alter development. As cereal crops are the most important contributor to agricultural productivity in the US and worldwide, this new knowledge is important for crop improvement and protection. In the course of the project, a postdoctoral fellow will receive training in high throughput mass spectrometric protein identification, an emerging technology applicable to many complex biological problems.

真菌病原体玉米黑粉菌 (Ustilago maydis) 感染许多植物，但只有玉米 (Zea mays L.) 感染才会导致癌症。 这种真菌在植物细胞外增殖，并通过与玉米细胞相互作用的预测分泌蛋白引发肿瘤。 迄今为止，已经使用真菌突变体研究了植物-真菌相互作用，但人们对玉米对肿瘤结果的贡献知之甚少。 在该项目中，将通过对每个伙伴表达的基因和新蛋白质的产生进行编目，在感染/癌症诱导的早期阶段监测玉米和黑粉菌基因表达的变化。 数据将从受感染的、未成熟的玉米雄穗（负责产生花粉的器官）中收集，因为它们很容易被感染，并且在正常雄穗中具有缺陷花药的玉米突变体会阻止肿瘤形成，特别是在花药组织中。 将分析 RNA 和蛋白质反应，比较易受影响的野生型花药与雄性不育突变体，以进一步了解肿瘤生长所需的玉米花药蛋白质。 潜在的影响是一种新的方法来了解玉米和其他谷类作物花药发育的步骤，并更好地了解病原体如何利用特定于一种器官类型的宿主特性。 长期目标是定义肿瘤引发的各个步骤，使用与玉米受体结合以改变发育的真菌分子的生产作为工作模型。 由于谷类作物是美国和全球农业生产力最重要的贡献者，因此这些新知识对于作物改良和保护非常重要。 在该项目过程中，一名博士后研究员将接受高通量质谱蛋白质鉴定培训，这是一项适用于许多复杂生物问题的新兴技术。