Abstract

Plants are hosts to diverse mutualistic and parasitic microbes which impact all aspects of their life. Plant diseases caused by microbes affect our food production significantly. On the other hand, beneficial microbes support plants by delivering nutrients and by providing protection. We are studying the strategies of microbes to reprogram plants in order to achieve and maintain colonisation. Knowing the microbial toolset helps to identify key plant processes that are targeted by microorganisms. We are interested to find out how these plant-microbe interaction principles evolved and how we can modify elements to protect plants from pathogens but maintain their ability to engage with beneficial microorganisms.

I will present examples of plant pathogenic bacteria which reprogram plant transcription and show that we can exploit their strategy for biotechnological applications. Furthermore I will give an overview on our more recent research that explores commonalities and differences between colonisation by pathogenic and mutualistic filamentous microbes.