How conserved fungal antimicrobial effectors mediate barley colonization
Background:
Plants associate with various microbes, which collectively form their microbiota. This microbiota is important for plant growth and fitness, but also protects the plant from disease. In order to infect, pathogens need to overcome the plant immune system as well as the protection that is provided by the plant-associated microbiota. Therefore, pathogens secrete proteins, so-called effectors, to target host immunity, but also to manipulate the plant microbiota via selective antimicrobial activity. Recent comparative genomics has revealed that diverse fungal pathogens that are able to infect barley (Hordeum vulgare) share a number of antimicrobial effectors.
Project description:
This project aims to demonstrate that the antimicrobial effectors that are shared by barley pathogens contribute to infection of barley. To do so, we will use fungal knock-out mutants of these effectors to perform barley infections and compare disease progression with infections of the wild-type pathogens. Disease symptoms, fungal biomass and microbiome compositions will be analyzed and compared. Furthermore, the mode of action of the effectors will be investigated.
Technologies and Methods:
CRISPR mutagenesis of fungi
Pathogen inoculation of barley plants
Analyzing plant infection phenotypes
Isolating and quantifying fungal DNA via qPCR
Microbiome sequencing
Supervisor: Martha Bauer
Relevant literature:
Mesny et al. (2024) Meddling with the microbiota: Fungal tricks to infect plant hosts. Current Opinion in Plant Biology. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102622