The role of Joka2 in autophagy

Autophagy is the process via which intracellular cargo is sequestered to be subsequently degraded by the lytic compartment of the cell or secreted to the extracellular space. Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as only autophagy) mediates this process through the creation of a de novo vesicle named the autophagosome. Autophagosomes were first hypothesised to be non-selective, collecting intracellular material in bulk. However it is now hypothesised that proteins lining the interior membrane confer a high degree of specificity, acting like receptors that bind desired cargo to be transported.
Selective autophagy has been currently characterised in two different altered cell states as being able to maintain homeostasis, PAMP (pathogen associated molecular patterns) associated immunity and defence autophagy. The aim of this research is to characterise the molecular mechanisms of both defence related autophagy and pathogen triggered immunity, specially focusing on the roles of both adaptor and core autophagy proteins, as well as understanding the connection that exists within the two at a molecular level.
To do so, we will use the plant Nicotiana benthamiana as the main plant system, since it allows us to perform a series of techniques such as RNA interference, CRSPR mutagenesis and transient gene expression on it. N. benthamiana plants will then be infected using the oomycete Phytophthora infestans as it manipulates the plant's host machinery through the use of PAMPs and effector proteins into a false state of carbon starvation, so it can obtain high energy containing molecules, whilst the plant tries to stop this attack by recruiting defence compounds which are then transported to the host-pathogen interface. In this case the haustorial membrane.
This research is relevant since P. infestans causes one of the most detrimental diseases to potato crops, known as late potato blight, and with an ever increasing world population, a constant stream of staple crops such as potatoes is indispensable for that trend to continue. As a result novel insight into plant resistance mechanisms and other forms of avoiding or minimising the effects of disease on crops are essential.