Effector evolution in plant pathogens

随着预计到2050年人口将达到97亿，养活快速增长的人口的迫在眉睫的挑战受到植物病原体的威胁，这些病原体每年导致作物产量的重大损失。虽然与疾病作斗争对可持续农业和全球粮食安全至关重要，但发展持久抗性需要深入了解植物和病原体之间动态共同进化的分子机制。寄主-病原体军备竞赛的一个特点是病原体效应物的加速进化。植物已经进化出一种复杂的免疫系统，可以保护它们免受周围环境中绝大多数潜在病原体的伤害。然而，成功的病原体产生效应蛋白来击败宿主免疫，并为疾病的发展创造合适的环境。了解效应器是如何使植物变得敏感的，并阐明病原体用来促进其效应器谱系快速进化的机制，将有助于对发病的基本原理的重要洞察。这一知识对建立可持续的疾病控制策略是至关重要的。本项目将以毁灭性的植物病原菌疫霉为重点，研究效应器蛋白的模块化结构如何促进效应器系统中功能的多样化，通过效应器系统可以产生新的寄主操纵活动。创新的蛋白质组学方法与遗传学、生物化学、生物信息学、分子生物学和蛋白质结构分析相结合，将促进对宿主-病原体共同进化这一重要方面的基本理解。

With the human population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, the looming challenge of feeding the rapidly growing population is threatened by plant pathogens, which cause significant losses in crop yield each year. While battling diseases is essential for sustainable agriculture and global food security, developing durable resistance requires a deep understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie the dynamic co-evolution between plants and pathogens.A hallmark of host-pathogen arms race is the accelerated evolution of pathogen effectors. Plants have evolved a sophisticated immune system that protects them from the vast majority of potential pathogens in the surrounding environment. However, successful pathogens produce effector proteins to defeat host immunity and create a suitable environment for disease development. Understanding how effectors render plants susceptible and elucidating the mechanisms utilized by pathogens to facilitate rapid evolution in their effector repertoire will offer important insight into the fundamental principles of pathogenesis. This knowledge is essential in establishing sustainable disease control strategies.Focusing on the devastating plant pathogen Phytophthora, this project will investigate how modular architecture of effector proteins facilitate functional diversification in an effector repertoire through which new activities of host manipulation could arise. Innovative proteomic approaches in combination with genetics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, molecular biology, and protein structure analyses will be employed to advance a fundamental understanding of this important aspect of host-pathogen co-evolution.