NO: A nitric oxide synthase generated chemical effector of fungal pathogenesis

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The world relies heavily on a handful of food crops. Of these, rice forms the staple diet of half of the world's population. However, rice and 50 other known grasses, are vulnerable to attack by the rice blast fungus. Such attack can lead to very significant crop losses. This may have implications for UK cereal crops - if global climate change leads to a rise in ambient temperature, rice blast disease will infiltrate Europe. Currently, disease is moderately well controlled by fungicides or by the use of rice varieties bred to carry extra disease resistance genes. Both are problematic: fungicides are costly, antifungal activity can be lost and inbred disease resistance can be lost due to the emergence of new and aggressive races of the fungus. Whilst we have made great strides towards understanding fungal invasion, much remains to be discovered. Detailed knowledge of the processes underpinning fungal attack will allow us to identify weak links during the early stages of fungal attack. This will empower us with the knowledge to design more environmentally benign modes of crop protection. This project aims to look at signals the fungus uses to drive the formation of its infection structures. More specifically, it will look at the generation and consequence of chemical effectors of fungal disease.