Project description:Fungal interactions with plant roots, either beneficial or detrimental, have a major impact on agriculture and ecosystems1. The soil inhabiting ascomycete Fusarium oxysporum (Fo) constitutes a species complex of worldwide distribution causing vascular wilt in more than a hundred different crops2,3. Individual isolates of the fungus exhibit host-specific pathogenicity, determined by proteinaceous effectors termed secreted in xylem (SIX)4,5. However, such isolates can also colonize roots of non-host plants asymptomatically as endophytes, or even protect the plant against pathogenic isolates6,7. The molecular determinants of multi-host plant colonization are currently unknown. Here, we identified a set of fungal effectors termed ERCs (Early Root Compatibility effectors), which are secreted during early biotrophic growth of Fo on both host and non-host plants. In contrast to SIX effectors, which are encoded on lineage specific (LS) genomic regions5,8, ERCs are encoded on core genomic regions and broadly conserved across the Fo species complex. Targeted deletion of ERC genes in pathogenic Fo isolate resulted in reduced virulence on the host plant and rapid activation of plant immune responses, while in a non-pathogenic isolate it led to impaired root colonization and loss of biocontrol ability. Strikingly, some ERCs also contribute to Fo infection on the non-vascular land plant Marchantia polymorpha. Our results reveal an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for multi-host colonization by root infecting fungi.
Project description:PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI) is the first line of plant defense against invading organisms. Initiated through the perception of conserved pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), such as lipopolysaccharide or flagellin, PTI can provide early protection against a broad range of pathogens. Active suppression of PTI by microbial effector proteins, particularly those secreted by the Type III secretion system (T3SS), is a well-known strategy employed by bacterial plant pathogens that enables them to subvert PTI and successfully colonize their hosts. In this study, we demonstrate that the xylem-limited bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, which lacks a T3SS, utilizes an alternative strategy to delay elicitation of innate immune responses. By decorating its LPS PAMP molecule with a high molecular weight O antigen, this bacterium physically masks itself from early recognition by the grapevine innate immune system. We have elucidated the chemical structure of the O antigen and found that it is primarily an α1,2-linked rhamnan polymer. X. fastidiosa cells lacking O antigen elicited hallmarks of PTI such as ROS production, specifically in the plant xylem tissue compartment, which is comprised primarily of non-living cells. By coupling histological and genome-wide transcriptional profiling, we demonstrate that X. fastidiosa lacking its O antigen shield activates defense-related genes in grapevine. This includes a stronger and more prolonged oxidative burst at concentrations high enough to inhibit pathogen proliferation. To begin exploring translational applications of our findings, we also demonstrate that purified X. fastidiosa LPS elicitor can prime grapevine defenses, thereby conferring host tolerance to subsequent challenge with X. fastidiosa.
Project description:Using next-generation sequencing, we sequenced transcriptomes of A. thaliana plants infected by the pathogenic and the symbiotic fungus and analyzed plant and fungal gene expression changes between pathogenic and symbiotic interactions. Infected plants were sampled at early infection stages, 12, 24, 48 and 96 HPI (hours post inoculation)
Project description:Plants and pathogens are entangled in a continual arms race. The plants are evolved to have a dynamic defense and immune mechanisms to resist the infection and enhance the immunity for the second wave attacks from the same or different type of pathogenic species. Not only in the evolutionally or physiologically, the plant-pathogen interaction is also highly dynamic in the molecular level. Recently, the emerging quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics approach, data-independent acquisition (DIA), was developed for the analysis of proteome in a high throughput fashion. In this study, the DIA approach was applied to quantitatively trace the change of the plant proteome from the early to late stage of pathogenesis progression. This study revealed that the early stage of the pathogenesis response, the proteins directly related to the chaperon for the defense proteins. In the later stage, not only the defense proteins but also a set of the pathogen associate molecular pattern triggered immunity (PTI), effector triggered immunity (ETI) related proteins were highly induced. Our finding showed the dynamics of the regulation in protein level and demonstrated that the potential of using DIA approach for tracing the dynamics of the plant proteome during pathogenesis responses.