EAPSI: Organization and Flow of Components Involved in Growth and Disease Development in Fungi

真菌是农作物最重要的经济病原菌。特别是，稻瘟病每年在全球造成近50亿美元的损失。中国是这种疾病的震中，正在投入大量资源抗击这种疾病。引起这种疾病的真菌以一种还不太清楚的精确方式渗透和定居水稻。该项目将使用高分辨率显微镜来研究生长中的真菌细胞以及稻瘟病菌的感染结构中蛋白质和其他分子是如何动态组织的，这将为未来所有真菌感染的治疗提供洞察力。它将在福建福州福州农林大学王宗华博士和中国的实验室进行，并将帮助东道主和提出者S机构基于共同的研究目标建立永久的合作关系。真菌，包括植物和动物的病原体，通常通过在其顶端生长的丝状细胞的产生来定居，是细胞生长的极好模式。近年来，遗传和活细胞显微镜技术已经融合在一起，可以仔细测量亚细胞成分的运动。这个项目将连接基础细胞生物学和分子植物病理学，以观察真菌细胞中蛋白质和脂类的流动。具体地说，已知至少存在两条独立的分泌途径来支持真菌的生长和致病，为了研究这些途径的差异动力学，将对每条途径中的代表性蛋白质进行光漂白实验。此外，已知参与真菌生长和发育的一种特定脂质将被跟踪，使用荧光标记，在稻瘟病病原菌的感染结构中，进一步的研究表明，这种脂的分布可能对这种生物的感染过程至关重要。该NSF EAPSI奖支持一名美国研究生的研究，并与中国科技部合作提供资金。

Fungi are the most economically important pathogens of crops. In particular, the rice blast disease results in losses of nearly $5 billion each year worldwide. China is the epicenter of this disease, and is investing many resources to combat it. The fungus that causes this disease penetrates and colonizes rice in a precise way that is not quite understood. This project will use high resolution microscopy to examine how proteins and other molecules are dynamically organized in growing fungal cells as well as in the infection structures of the rice blast pathogen, which will provide insight into future treatments of all fungal infections. It will be carried out in the laboratory of Dr. Zonghua Wang at the Fuzhou Agricultural & Forestry University in Fuzhou, Fujian, China, and will assist in developing a permanent collaboration between the host and the proposer?s institutions based on shared research goals. Fungi, including pathogens of plants and animals, generally colonize through the production of threadlike cells that grow at their tips, and are excellent models of cell growth. In recent years, genetic and live-cell microscopy techniques have converged to allow careful measurements of the movement of subcellular components. This project will bridge basic cell biology and molecular plant pathology to view the flow of proteins and lipids in fungal cells. Specifically, it is known that at least two separate secretory pathways exist that support fungal growth and pathogenicity, and to examine the differential dynamics of these pathways, photobleaching experiments will be performed on representative proteins from each route. Additionally, a specific lipid known to be involved in growth and development of fungi will be tracked, using a fluorescent marker, in infection structures of the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, to further previous research indicating that the distribution of this lipid may be crucial for the infection process of this organism. This NSF EAPSI award supports the research of a U.S. graduate student and is funded in collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.