Mechanisms of fungal pathogens' adaptation to plant defenses

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Understanding how pathogens infect plants and how plants respond to such attacks is critical for the development of knowledge-based plant disease management strategies. However, the measures taken by fungal pathogens to counteract plant defenses also are important parts of the equation. My research program currently focuses on understanding how pathogens respond to plant defense strategies and how they manipulate plants' metabolism to their advantage. We validate the mechanisms underlying these counterdefenses by assessing their impact on plant defense mechanisms using two pathosystems, potato-Verticillium dahliae and potato- Phytophthora infestans. Using proteomics and a subtractive hybridization (SH)/cDNA-AFLP combinational approach, we identified several differentially expressed genes and proteins potentially involved in these two pathosystems. In V. dahliae, we identified genes and proteins differentially expressed only in a highly, not a weakly, aggressive isolate and only after induction with potato root extracts. Genes and proteins potentially involved in counterdefense are being investigated. The objectives of my research program for the term of this Discovery grant proposal are to investigate whether and how potential pathogenicity genes and proteins that express only in highly aggressive isolates of V. dahliae (i.e., SrrA, ICH) impact plant defenses and alter the outcome of host-pathogen interactions, and how the pathogen coordinates such plant defense alterations at gene and metabolite levels. Adaptation of pathogens to their hosts will seemingly be more significant under global issues involving the environment, such as climate change. Being able to anticipate adaptive reactions of pathogens will open new horizons in dealing with plant diseases by targeting specific functions of the pathogen.