investigating the role of TOR kinase in the rice blast fungus

稻瘟病是影响世界各地水稻种植的最严重的疾病之一，每年摧毁足够养活6000万人的大米。该病由真菌Magnaporthe(Syn.为了引起植物感染，稻瘟菌产生一种特殊的感染结构，称为附着胞，它产生巨大的压力，施加在叶表面作为物理力量来破坏水稻角质层，使真菌感染叶组织。了解附着体是如何发育和发挥作用的，为防治稻瘟病提供了一种潜在的手段。附着胞的发育需要真菌孢子的程序性细胞死亡，并将其内容物循环到感染细胞中。这一过程需要自噬，并与细胞周期控制紧密相连。该项目将研究TOR激酶对植物感染的控制，TOR激酶是一种对营养敏感的细胞生长中央控制器。TOR与许多人类疾病有关，是雷帕霉素的靶标，雷帕霉素是一种具有多种治疗用途的药物。然而，它在真菌发病机制中的作用还不是很清楚。该项目将表征稻瘟菌中的TOR激酶，研究其激活和调控，确定其下游的磷酸化蛋白靶标，以及其控制感染相关自噬的能力，这是稻瘟病的关键。

Rice blast disease is one of the most serious diseases affecting rice cultivation around the world, destroying enough rice each year to feed 60 million people. The disease is caused by the fungus Magnaporthe (Syn. Pyricularia) oryzae, which also threatens wheat and millet production, affecting Asia and Africa in particular.To cause plant infection, the rice blast fungus develops a specialised infection structure called an appressorium, which develops enormous pressure that is applied at the leaf surface as physical force to rupture the rice cuticle and allow the fungus to infect leaf tissue. Understanding how appressoria develop and function provides a potential means to combat rice blast disease by preventing initial infection. Appressorium development requires programmed cell death of the fungal spore and recycling of its contents into the infection cell. This process requires autophagy and is tightly coupled to cell cycle control.The project will investigate the control of plant infection by TOR kinase, a nutrient-sensitive central controller of cell growth. TOR is implicated in many human diseases and is the target of rapamycin, a drug with many therapeutic uses. Its role in fungal pathogenesis is, however, not well understood. The project will characterise TOR kinase in M. oryzae, investigate its activation and regulatory control, identify its downstream phosphorylated protein targets, as well as its ability to control infection-associated autophagy, which is essential for rice blast disease.