Investigating the interaction between plant cell wall integrity maintenance and innate immunity

植物细胞壁除了作为细胞与环境之间的物理屏障外，还为单个细胞提供结构支持。因此，细胞壁是植物病原体的重要屏障。为了建立感染，病原体必须绕过细胞壁对宿主施加影响并获取其营养物质。植物已经进化出复杂的先天免疫系统，能够检测保守的病原体特征，或其活性的损伤相关产物，从而激活防御反应。植物细胞还具有细胞壁完整性（CWI）维持机制，通过受体监测细胞壁的机械特性，并在细胞壁损伤后触发代偿反应。这两个系统相互作用，影响植物的防御反应。然而，介导这种相互作用的分子成分并没有很好地表征。此外，生物应激对细胞壁机械特性的影响及其对感染结果的影响仍然知之甚少。因此，本项目旨在描述在先天免疫过程中细胞壁的机械特性是如何变化的。此外，还将研究介导CWI维持与先天免疫相互作用的分子成分。了解新的生物抗逆性机制将有助于指导未来提高重要作物物种抗病性的策略，有助于确保21世纪的粮食安全。

The plant cell wall provides structural support to individual cells in addition to acting as a physical barrier between the cell and the environment. Therefore, the cell wall serves as an important barrier to plant pathogens. In order to establish an infection, pathogens must bypass the cell wall to exert their influence on the host and to access its nutrients. Plants have evolved a complex innate immune system which enables the detection of conserved pathogen features, or the damage-associated products of their activity, which activate defence responses. Plant cells also possess a cell wall integrity (CWI) maintenance mechanism whereby receptors monitor the mechanical properties of the cell wall and trigger compensatory responses following cell wall damage. These two systems have been found to interact which influences plant defence responses. However, the molecular components that mediate this interaction are not well characterised. Furthermore, the effect of biotic stress on the mechanical properties of the cell wall and its consequences for the outcome of an infection remain poorly understood. Therefore, this project aims to characterise how the mechanical properties of the cell wall change during innate immunity. Additionally, the molecular components which mediate the interaction between CWI maintenance and innate immunity will be investigated. Understanding novel biotic stress tolerance mechanisms will help direct future strategies to improve the disease resistance of important crop species, helping to ensure food security in the 21st century.