Investigate the role of small RNAs of a necrotrophic fungal pathogen B. cinerea in suppressing host Immunity

灰霉病菌是一种成功的真菌病原菌，可侵染200多种植物。到目前为止，还没有鉴定出对灰霉病的寄主抗性。灰霉病使用相当复杂的策略来侵染寄主植物；然而，其成功的分子机制还不是很清楚。小RNA(SRNA)介导的RNA干扰(RNAi)是一种保守的基因沉默机制，以序列特异性的方式抑制基因表达。RNAi在病原真菌中的研究还很少，在真菌病原菌中sRNAs在寄主发病中的作用也没有被探索。根据初步数据，研究人员推测，一些灰霉病菌的sRNA被传递到宿主细胞中，并作为一类新的毒力效应器，通过劫持宿主RNAi机制来抑制宿主的免疫反应。本项目的目的是从受感染的拟南芥(模式植物)和番茄中鉴定这些由灰霉病衍生的sRNAs，这些sRNA可以潜在地靶向具有免疫功能的寄主基因。寄主目标基因在寄主防御反应中的作用也将被研究。该项目将揭示一种成功的病原体用来抑制宿主免疫的新策略。该项目的成果将是真正具有变革性的，并将有助于阐明强毒力真菌病原体致病的分子机制。这一基础性发现有望为病原菌-寄主相互作用领域和作物病害管理开辟新的视角。该项目将为本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员提供跨学科培训机会。作为一名女性教职员工，调查员将作为女性代表不足的少数族裔高中生的导师。这些学生将在她的实验室接受植物分子生物学的暑期培训。研究人员试图激发学生对农业和植物科学的兴趣，并最终帮助将高质量的学生送到加州大学学院和其他大学。

Botrytis cinerea is a successful fungal pathogen that can infect more than 200 plant species. So far, no host resistance to B. cinerea has been identified. Botrytis uses rather sophisticated strategies to infect host plants; however, the molecular mechanisms of its success are not well understood. Small RNA (sRNA)-mediated RNA interference (RNAi), is a conserved gene silencing mechanism that suppresses gene expression in a sequence specific manner. RNAi has not been well studied in pathogenic fungi, and the roles of sRNAs in host pathogenesis have not been explored in fungal pathogens. Based on the preliminary data, the investigator has hypothesized that some Botrytis sRNAs are delivered into host cells and function as a novel class of virulence effectors to suppress host immune responses by hijacking host RNAi machinery. This project aims to identify and functionally characterize these Botrytis-derived sRNAs from infected Arabidopsis (a model plant) and tomato, which can potentially target host genes with putative function in immunity. The role of the host target genes in host defense responses will also be examined. This project would reveal a novel strategy that successful pathogens employ to suppress host immunity. The output of this project would be truly transformative and would shed light on the molecular mechanisms of the pathogenicity of virulent fungal pathogens. Such a fundamental discovery would promise to open new perspectives in the pathogen-host interaction field and crop disease management.This project will provide interdisciplinary training opportunities for undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. As a female faculty, the investigator will serve as a mentor to female underrepresented minority high school students. These students will receive summer training in plant molecular biology in her lab. The investigator seeks to stimulate student interest in agriculture and plant sciences and ultimately help deliver high quality students to UCR and other colleges.