The clubroot pathogen: a master manipulator of plant immunity?

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Since 2020, thanks to the support of the NSERC through the Discovery Program, as well as the support of canola (Brassica napus) grower's associations, our Lab (EdelLab) at Université Laval (UL) is trying to understand the molecular basis of the clubroot resistance and how the clubroot pathogen can infect susceptible hosts. Clubroot is a devastating disease infecting roots of plants in the Brassicaceae family and responsible for 10-15% yield reduction on a global scale, and more than $ 500 million in loses to the Canadian canola industry in the past 10 years. This disease is caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, an obligate intracellular biotrophic plant pathogen that belongs to the class Phytomyxea within the eukaryote supergroup Rhizaria, one of the least studied groups of eukaryotes. Clubroot management in Canada relies heavily on the use of clubroot resistant varieties. Unfortunately, over the years, the resistance has been rapidly overcome by new pathotypes of P. brassicae, situation that is aggravated by the fact that very little is known about the identity of the clubroot resistant genes or the mechanisms mediating the resistance, and how the clubroot pathogen can suppress plant immunity in the susceptible host. The main objective of this international collaboration is to advance our efforts in identifying putative clubroot resistance genes in canola and Arabidopsis for further validation and characterization. This will be addressed through the use of resistance gene enrichment sequencing (RenSeq), genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and CRISPR-Cas9-based reverse genetics, all technologies well-known and established in DingLab lead by Dr. Pingtao Ding at the Institute of Biology Lieden, at Lieden University, Netherland. This collaboration will contribute to the training of two PhD students and will ensure the Canadian cruciferous industry more stable and robust clubroot resistance.