Role of the Phytophthora infestans secreted kinase CRN8 in plant disease

卵菌是一组形似真菌的真核微生物，包括植物和动物的病原体。植物病原卵菌在许多农作物、观赏植物和本土植物上都会引起毁灭性的疾病。最臭名昭著的卵菌病原体是疫霉，特别是爱尔兰马铃薯饥荒病原菌马铃薯晚疫病菌，它继续影响英国和世界各地的马铃薯生产。近年来，在对致病疫霉和其他卵菌的生物学研究方面取得了前所未有的进展。现在已经证实，这些病原体分泌一大批蛋白质，称为效应器，调节植物免疫并使感染成为可能。计算分析揭示了卵菌基因组中数百个效应基因。其中一些效应蛋白被认为是由病原体在植物细胞内传递的。在这项提案中，我们重点关注致病疫霉的一个这样的效应器，称为CRN8。我们的目标是对CRN8和CRN8靶标和/或模拟的植物蛋白进行功能表征，以确定这些分子在疾病进展中的作用。本研究将有助于建立病原菌基因与植物过程之间的功能联系。反过来，这些知识将提高我们对感染过程的理解，并将揭示新的病原体靶标，用于管理由卵菌引起的经济上重要的植物疾病。

Oomycetes are a diverse group of fungus-like eukaryotic microorganisms that include pathogens of plants and animals. Plant pathogenic oomycetes cause devastating diseases on numerous crop, ornamental, and native plants. The most notorious oomycete pathogens are Phytophthora, particularly the Irish potato famine pathogen Phytophthora infestans, which continues to blight potato production in the UK and worldwide. In recent years, unparalleled progress has been made in understanding the biology of P. infestans and other oomycetes. It is now well established that these pathogens secrete an arsenal of proteins, termed effectors, that modulate plant immunity and enable infection. Computational analyses revealed hundreds of effector genes in oomycete genomes. Some of these effector proteins are thought to be delivered by the pathogen inside plant cells. In this proposal, we focus on one such effector of P. infestans, termed CRN8. We aim to functionally characterize CRN8 and the plant proteins that CRN8 targets and/or mimics, in order to establish the role of these molecules in disease progression. This study will help to establish functional connections between pathogen genes and plant processes. In turn, this knowledge will improve our understanding of the infection process and will reveal new pathogen targets for the management of economically important plant diseases caused by oomycetes.