Molecular mechanisms underlying plant-pathogen arms race

With the human population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, the looming challenge of
feeding the rapidly growing population is threatened by plant pathogens, which cause an
estimated 13% loss in crop yield each year. While battling diseases is essential for sustainable
agriculture and global food security, developing crops with durable resistance requires a deep
understanding of the basic molecular mechanisms that underlie the dynamic interactions
between plant hosts and pathogens. A major approach to unravel these mechanisms is to
study pathogen effectors, which are key virulence proteins that can directly manipulate host
immunity. Plants have evolved a sophisticated immune system that is robust enough to protect
them from the vast majority of potential pathogens in the surrounding environment. However,
successful pathogens produce effectors to defeat host immunity. Understanding how effectors
render plants susceptible to pathogens provides essential insight into the fundamental
principles of host-pathogen interactions. This knowledge is key towards establishing
sustainable disease control strategies.
This project will employ the model Pseudomonas syringae-Arabidopsis thaliana pathosystem
to investigate a newly emerged aspect in plant immunity, which is centered on the metabolism
of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). As an important metabolic and redox agent,
specific cleavage of NAD+ has recently been shown to be an important process during the
activation of immune signalling. A combination of genetics, molecular biology, and biochemical
approaches will be used to advance our understanding of this new frontier in plant immunity.