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SUMMARY:Defence and Counter-defence in Plant-pathogen Interactions - Profe
 ssor Wenbo Ma\, Sainsbury Laboratory
DTSTART:20211111T130000Z
DTEND:20211111T140000Z
UID:TALK162100@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jake Harris
DESCRIPTION:The looming challenge of feeding the rapidly growing populatio
 n is threatened by crop losses from plant diseases with an average of 10-1
 5% of the yield being lost to pathogens and pests each year. Although plan
 ts have evolved a myriad of immune mechanisms\, successful pathogens overc
 ome the defence system and cause disease. The dynamic interplay between vi
 rulence factors of a pathogen and the innate immunity of a host determines
  whether disease will occur. A deep understanding of the molecular mechani
 sms that underlie host-pathogen interactions is essential for developing d
 urable disease resistance. We have a long-standing interest in the molecul
 ar basis of host-pathogen co-evolution. Recent research in my laboratory f
 ocuses on plant small RNAs (sRNAs) as a newly emerged battleground in this
  arms race. Gene silencing guided by sRNAs governs a broad range of cellul
 ar processes. We identified a specific family of plant sRNAs that\, instea
 d of regulating endogenous gene expression\, guide target gene silencing i
 n the invading eukaryotic filamentous pathogen Phytophthora. We show seque
 nces that spawn these antimicrobial sRNAs exhibiting a high level of diver
 sification\, consistent with their engagement in antagonistic interactions
  with pathogens. We also found Phytophthora virulence proteins\, called ef
 fectors\, that suppress host sRNAs as a counter-defence mechanism. Structu
 ral analysis of one such effector Phytophthora suppressors of RNA silencin
 g 2 (PSR2) led to the discovery of a unique tandem repeat arrangement that
  potentially contributes to the evolvability of Phytophthora effectors. I 
 will discuss our recent progress on sRNA-mediated immunity in plants and f
 unctional diversification of the effector repertoire in Phytophthora.\n\nC
 ontact reception@plantsci.cam.ac.uk for a Zoom link prior to a talk if you
  are not on our mailing list. Due to having to go online\, we are restrict
 ing the talks to University of Cambridge and alumni to keep them as inform
 al as possible.
LOCATION:Online
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