Project description:Cytosine methylation is an important epigenetic modification of DNA that is involved in genome defense and transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes. Despite extensive efforts to understand genome-wide distribution and function of DNA methylation in mammals and plants, contribution of DNA methylation to biology of microbial eukaryotes is largely unknown to date. Here we used genetic manipulations and high-throughput bisulphite sequencing on the model plant pathogenic fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae to elucidate the dynamics and mechanics of DNA methylation during pathogenic development.
Project description:Cytosine methylation is an important epigenetic modification of DNA that is involved in genome defense and transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes. Contribution of DNA methylation to biology of microbial eukaryotes is largely unknown to date. Here we used RNA-seq to examine the impact of DNA methylation on transcriptional output in the genome of a model pathogenic fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae by comparing expression profiles of wild-type and methylation-deficient mutant strains.
Project description:To investigate plant-fungus interactions in early stage of infection, we analyzed response of rice against Magnaporthe grisea infection deficient mutants. In M. grisea, Mgb1 and Mst12 are essential for development of infection structures. Deletion of MGB1 results in defect in appresorium formation, and MST12, in penetration peg development. Analysis of gene expression profiles in rice by microarray revealed the mutant-specific and R gene dependent gene expression, strongly suggesting that gene-for-gene interaction commences before the penetration into rice cell. Keywords: disease state analysis
Project description:Many of the world’s most devastating crop diseases are caused by fungal pathogens which elaborate specialized infection structures to invade plant tissue. Here we present a quantitative mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomic analysis of infection-related development by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, which threatens global food security. We mapped 8,005 phosphosites on 2,062 fungal proteins, revealing major re-wiring of phosphorylation-based signaling cascades during fungal infection. Comparingme phosphosite conservation across 41 fungal species reveals phosphorylation signatures specifically associated with biotrophic and hemibiotrophic fungal infection. We then used parallel reaction monitoring to identify phosphoproteins directly regulated by the Pmk1 MAP kinase that controls plant infection by M. oryzae. We define 33 substrates of Pmk1 and show that Pmk1-dependent phosphorylation of a newly identified regulator, Vts1, is required for rice blast disease. Defining the phosphorylation landscape of infection therefore identifies potential therapeutic interventions for control of plant diseases.