UK-China partnership to develop durable late blight disease resistance in potato
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Dundee
Department Name: School of Life Sciences
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Paul Birch (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Boevink PC
(2016)
Oomycetes Seek Help from the Plant: Phytophthora infestans Effectors Target Host Susceptibility Factors.
in Molecular plant
Boevink PC
(2016)
A Phytophthora infestans RXLR effector targets plant PP1c isoforms that promote late blight disease.
in Nature communications
Boevink PC
(2020)
Devastating intimacy: the cell biology of plant-Phytophthora interactions.
in The New phytologist
Cai Q
(2021)
Message in a Bubble: Shuttling Small RNAs and Proteins Between Cells and Interacting Organisms Using Extracellular Vesicles.
in Annual review of plant biology
Franco-Orozco B
(2017)
A new proteinaceous pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) identified in Ascomycete fungi induces cell death in Solanaceae.
in The New phytologist
He Q
(2018)
Plant pathogen effector utilizes host susceptibility factor NRL1 to degrade the immune regulator SWAP70.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
He Q
(2019)
Phytophthora infestans effector SFI3 targets potato UBK to suppress early immune transcriptional responses.
in The New phytologist
He Q
(2015)
U-box E3 ubiquitin ligase PUB17 acts in the nucleus to promote specific immune pathways triggered by Phytophthora infestans.
in Journal of experimental botany
He Q
(2020)
All Roads Lead to Susceptibility: The Many Modes of Action of Fungal and Oomycete Intracellular Effectors.
in Plant communications
McLellan H
(2020)
The Ubiquitin E3 Ligase PUB17 Positively Regulates Immunity by Targeting a Negative Regulator, KH17, for Degradation.
in Plant communications
| Description | We have demonstrated that a key ubiquitin E3 ligase enzyme functions in the plant nucleus to promote immunity to potato late blight disease. We have demonstrated that RXLR effectors from P. infestans target susceptibility factors in potato, supporting or promoting their activity as negative regulators of immunity. We have demonstrated that RXLR effectors target host immune regulators in signal transduction pathways to prevent their activity This has led to additional funding from BBSRC as an industrial partner award We have held a workshop to engage with academia and industry across China for future potato research Four PhD students in China have completed their PhD successfully because of the award. Two have become PDRAs within my group. Two of the students have since become associate professors in China |
| Exploitation Route | We may be able to use this information to improve disease resistance. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Education,Environment |
| Description | Our finding are being used to extend collaboration with Huazhong Agricultural University. This has led to successful bid for funding from the Chinese ministry of Education supporting our roles as 'High End Foreign Experts' Our findings are being used to extend collaboration to other Chinese partners to develop a Chinese research network linked to University of Dundee (especially CIP, Beijing, Fuzhou Agricultural and Foresty University, North West Agricultural and Forestry University and HAAS Harbin). Our findings on susceptibility factors have led to further funding from BBSRC, supported as an IPA by JR Simplot. Three students in China have successfully completed their PhDs as part of this collaboration as they have all visited University of Dundee to further their studies, leading to joint papers. An additional two Chinese students have now come to Dundee to perform their PhD studies, starting in 2015 and finishing in 2019 An additional CSC-funded student has joined the laboratory (2018-2022). A second student, Haixia Wang, completed her PhD and has now returned as a post-doc on an ERC advanced grant |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Creative Economy,Education,Environment |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Description | BBSRC Industrial Partner Award |
| Amount | £590,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/N009967/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2016 |
| End | 04/2019 |
| Description | ERC Advanced |
| Amount | € 2,468,260 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 787764 |
| Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 11/2018 |
| End | 10/2023 |
| Description | responsive mode |
| Amount | £389,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/P020569/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2017 |
| End | 09/2020 |
| Title | Potato Y2H library |
| Description | This potato yeast-2-hybrid library has been well characterised and has been demonstrated to have excellent coverage in terms of appropriate genes and in terms of the gene sizes covered. |
| Type Of Material | Biological samples |
| Year Produced | 2010 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | It has facilitated identification of protein-protein interactions in potato and has identified the potato targets of effectors from the late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans |
| Title | A collection of cloned RXLR effector genes from Phytophthora infestans |
| Description | We have cloned approximately 200 RXLR effector genes from Phytophthora infestans into GATEWAY entry clones for expression screening in plants. This RXLR effector set has been shared with collaborators in Wageningen, the Netherlands. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2011 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | the cloned RXLR effector set was sent to collaborators in Wageningen, the Netherlands where they used to establish the concepts of effectoromics. It has been sent to collaborators in INRA, Avignon for efectoromics research. It has been sent to collaborators in Huazhong Agricultural University and Heilongjiang Agricultural Academy of Science for functional research on effector activities |
| Description | High-end Foreign Recruitment Programme |
| Organisation | Huazhong Agricultural University |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Funding for a 'High-End Foreign Recruitment' programme was achieved with Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU), Wuhan, China. This provides funding for myself and members of my group to visit HZAU for 2 months a year to conduct collaborative research with potato research scientists in the university. It has led to 4 joint studentships being established, one of which qualified to then become a post-doc at Dundee University in my group. We teach students and staff from HZAU molecular and cell biology of potato-pathogen interactions and teach Enlgish writing for publications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | HZAU staff perform joint research that helps to accelerate our understanding of potato-pathogen interactions, and provide expertise in developing GM potato plants for research purposes. |
| Impact | So far, 5 high-impact joint reseaqrch publications; joint studentships; and a joint laboratory have all been outcomes or developed from this collaboration |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Honorary Professorship at Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) |
| Organisation | Huazhong Agricultural University |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This is a collabortation that has been supported by a BBSRC UK-China travel award and has involved exchanges of students and staff between us and HZAU |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partners commit their funding to studentships which have common research goals |
| Impact | Multiple publications have arisen from this collaboration. In addition, new late blight resistances have been identified for introduction into potato |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | Memorandum of understanding with HAAS |
| Organisation | Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The collaborations established as part of a workshop runin this grant led to a formal MoU between James Hutton Institute and Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences (HAAS) |
| Collaborator Contribution | I have established and coordinated the collaboration |
| Impact | Further collaboration has emereged from this. Dr Xiaodan Wang completed her PhD in my laboratpory and then has successfully won NSFC funding in China which is for collaborative research |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | China Potato Research workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This workshop brought the major potato researchers, policymakers and industry in China to James Hutton Institute. The objective was to describe the breadth and depth of potato research at JHI, and the commercial outcomes from this work; to learn about what the different agroicultural institutes, universities, companies and the CIP Centre for China and the Asian Pacific (CCCAP) were doing to meet China's demand for doubling potato production; and to engage with industry from China to help support collaborative research. Two MoUs emerged from the workshop and plans were drawn up for joint laboratories on potato research between Dundee and three insitites in China. The meeting has led to students funded to come from China to Dundee, and to joint proposals being established in several areas of potato research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Plant Power day 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Plant Power is an annual event that takes place at the University of Dundee Botanic Garden where various different groups and organisations participate with plant related activities/shows. A science strand is delivered by researchers from the Division of Plant Sciences at the University of Dundee and the James Hutton Institute. We presented different interactive hands-on activities related to their respective groups research to the visitors. These activities are either brand new or have been developed over a number of years at various events. The aim is to allow the public to learn about the research taking place locally and why this research is important. Various modes were used to communicate the research as shown by the diversity of activities e.g. use of games (pin the plant & botany trail); craft activities (chromosome modelling & lino printing); science experiments (raspberry DNA extraction); art (animating science). My research was represented in this program of work by Hazel McLellan, Qin He, Petra Boevink, Haixia Wang and Dionne Turnbull. Approximately 970 people came to the Botanic Garden for the event. They are generally family groups with young children (below 10 years of age). We estimate that around 200-250 people visited our activities. Feedback from the public indicated that they enjoyed all the activities. Researchers fed back the questions and statements from the public asked while interacting with them. Examples include people not realising that DNA is everywhere in a plant (DNA extraction activity); asking questions about how experiments are conducted with plants and the differences between plant and animal cells (chromosome modelling). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019 |