Identification and characterisation of microbial effectors that interfere with the plant circadian rhythm

植物微生物病原菌通过分泌多种效应蛋白进入植物细胞，干扰植物免疫系统。随后，植物进化出能够识别这些效应器的多种受体，导致病原体和宿主之间的进化军备竞赛。植物生物钟通过调节气孔开度和免疫受体水平，对病原体的有效免疫应答起着至关重要的作用。因此，时钟很可能是微生物效应器的目标。该项目的目的是识别时钟干扰效应，阐明其毒力功能的分子机制，并随后将其用于合成生物学方法，努力设计出高效植物。

Plant microbial pathogens secrete multiple effector proteins into plant cells in order to interfere with the plant immune system. Subsequently, plants have evolved multiple receptors capable to recognise these effectors, leading to an evolutionary arms race between pathogen and host. The plant circadian clock is essential for effective immune responses to pathogens by regulating the stomatal aperture and the levels of immune receptors. Therefore the clock is a likely target for microbial effectors. The aim of this project is to identify clock interfering effectors, elucidate the molecular mechanism of their virulent function and subsequently use them in synthetic biology approaches in an effort to engineer high performing plants.