Dissecting mechanisms of plant innate immunity to insect pests

食草性昆虫通过直接危害或通过传播植物病原体给农作物生产造成重大损失。值得注意的是，80%以上的昆虫被认为是专家，不到10%的昆虫以3科以上的植物为食。因此，大多数植物对大多数昆虫食草动物都有抵抗力。霍根豪特实验室已经从昆虫传播的细菌中鉴定出毒力蛋白(效应物)，这些细菌可以调节植物对昆虫食草性的防御。产生这些效应器的转基因植物对昆虫物种非常敏感。此外，转基因植物被通常死在这些植物上的昆虫食草动物定居。因此，效应器可能会干扰植物的免疫反应，从而调节植物对大多数昆虫的基本抗性。该学生将研究效应器与特定植物转录因子的相互作用，这些转录因子在调节植物对害虫的先天免疫方面具有潜在的作用。学生将与一个跨学科的研究团队合作，因此，将有机会发展植物遗传学、植物发育和免疫、植物-病原体和植物-昆虫相互作用以及蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用的分子和生化分析方面的专业知识。

Insect herbivores cause significant losses to crop production either by direct damage or through the transmission of plant pathogens. Remarkably, more than 80% of the insect species are regarded as specialists with less than 10% feeding on plants in more than 3 families. Thus, most plants are resistant to most insect herbivores. The Hogenhout laboratory has identified virulence proteins (effectors) from insect-transmitted bacteria that modulate plant defenses to insect herbivory. Transgenic plants that produce these effectors become extremely susceptible to insect species. In addition, the transgenic plants are colonized by insect herbivores that normally die on these plants. Thus, the effectors are likely to interfere with plant immune responses that regulate basal plant resistance to the majority of insect species. The student will investigate the interactions of effectors with specific plant transcription factors that have a potential role in regulating plant innate immunity to insect pests. The student will work with an interdisciplinary team of researchers, and as such, will have the opportunity to develop expertise in plant genetics, plant development and immunity, plant-pathogen and plant-insect interactions, and molecular and biochemical analyses of protein-protein interactions.