Understanding host plant susceptibility and resistance by indexing and deploying obligate pathogen effectors

病害导致农作物的显著产量损失。霜霉病和它们的近亲代表了一组主要的病原体，其中之一是马铃薯枯萎病，这是爱尔兰马铃薯饥荒的病原体。我们的目标是了解这些病原体如何攻击它们的宿主植物以及植物用来保护自己的机制。霜霉病（Hyaloperonospora parasitica）是分子模式植物拟南芥（Arabidopsis）的一种天然病原菌。我们最近发现了一组病原体蛋白，称为效应子，触发宿主抗性，也发挥了抑制宿主抗性的作用。我们现在能够在霜霉病的所有基因中识别潜在的效应基因。因此，在这个项目中，我们将分离出大量的效应基因，并利用它们来了解它们如何改变宿主植物以允许病原体生长。通过这种方式，我们鉴定了在抗性中重要的宿主蛋白。通过理解疾病和抗性之间复杂平衡，我们将揭示宿主和病原体之间相互作用的关键组成部分，我们将在未来设计遗传或化学方法来保护田间作物。

Diseases cause significant yield losses in crop plants. The downy mildews and their close relations represent a major group of pathogens, one of which is potato blight, the causal agent of the Irish Potato Famine. We aim to understand how these pathogens attack their host plants and the mechanisms used by plants to defend themselves. A downy mildew, Hyaloperonospora parasitica, is a natural pathogen of the molecular model plant Arabidopsis. We have recently identified a group of pathogen proteins, called effectors, that trigger host resistance and also play a role in suppressing host resistance. We are now able to recognise potential effector genes amongst all the genes of the downy mildew. So in this project we will isolate a large number of the effector genes and use them to understand how they alter their host plant to allow growth of the pathogen. In this way we identify host proteins that are important in resistance. By understanding this complex balance between disease and resistance we will reveal key components of the interactin between host and pathogen we will, in the future, design genetic or chemical approaches that protect crop plants in the field.