Plant Cell Wall Architecture and Fungal Pathogen Susceptibility

围绕所有植物细胞的富含多糖的细胞壁的重塑可能伴随着对灰葡萄孢的易感性增加，灰葡萄孢是一种使大多数水果腐烂的病原真菌。 番茄果实成熟是植物细胞壁解体的一个例子，与病原体易感性增加相一致。 虽然成熟的番茄果实和葡萄孢属表达类似的植物细胞壁降解酶，但先前的工作表明，成熟果实产生的酶对成熟相关的易感性增加至关重要。 观察到并非所有的非成熟番茄突变体都对葡萄孢属有抗性，这表明一些但不是所有的成熟事件是果实对分解的敏感性的原因。使成熟果实易受影响的机制包括细胞壁分解，其提供B。在抗病原体反应有限的情况下， 本项目确定了1）水果细胞壁重塑蛋白的多糖靶标，2）B。灰葡萄和果实基因表达的变化和3）由两个相互作用产生的蛋白质，将壁结构的特定组分与病原体感知和随后的易感性联系起来。 研究人员在多糖表征以及同时进行植物和病原体转录组和蛋白质组分析方面的专业知识允许评估壁结构，感染和成熟，从而扩大了有关真菌分解策略多样性和植物反应可塑性的知识。 该项目使用经济上重要的病原体和果实;结果可以应用于其他作物植物和植物部分，其壁结构被改变。研究人员与美国和国际农业部门有着密切的联系，加强了高中和本科生的教育，包括来自哥斯达黎加和墨西哥农业社区的个人，以及来自服务不足的小型本科和技术机构的个人。

Remodeling of the polysaccharide-rich cell wall surrounding all plant cells may accompany increased susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea, a pathogenic fungus that rots most fruit. Tomato fruit ripening is an example of plant cell wall disassembly that coincides with increased pathogen susceptibility. While ripening tomato fruit and Botrytis express similar plant cell wall degrading enzymes, previous work demonstrated that the enzymes produced by ripening fruit are crucial for the ripening-associated increase in susceptibility. Observations that not all non-ripening tomato mutants are resistant to Botrytis, suggested that some, but not all, ripening events are responsible for fruit susceptibility to decomposition. The mechanism(s) that make ripe fruit susceptible include cell wall disassembly which provides B. cinerea with accessible nutrients in circumstances where anti-pathogen responses are limited. This project identifies 1) polysaccharide targets of fruit cell wall remodeling proteins, 2) B. cinerea and fruit gene expression changes and 3) proteins produced by both interactors, to link specific components of the wall architecture to pathogen perception and the consequent susceptibility. The researchers' expertise in polysaccharide characterization and simultaneous plant and pathogen transcriptome and proteome analyses allows evaluation of wall architecture, infection, and ripening, thereby expanding knowledge about the diversity of fungal decomposing strategies and the plasticity of plant responses. This project uses an economically significant pathogen and fruit; the results may be applied to other crop plants and plant parts whose wall architecture is altered. The researchers have strong ties to US and international agricultural sectors enhancing the education of high school and undergraduate students, including individuals from agricultural communities in Costa Rica and Mexico and from small underserved undergraduate and technical institutions.