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SUMMARY:The secrets of a plant killer: Evolutionary and functional dynamic
 s of Phytophthora infestans effector genes - Sophien Kamoun\, The Sainsbur
 y Laboratory
DTSTART:20091112T160000Z
DTEND:20091112T170000Z
UID:TALK20036@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Ian Henderson
DESCRIPTION:Eukaryotic plant pathogens\, such as oomycetes and fungi\, cau
 se highly destructive diseases that negatively impact commercial and subsi
 stence agriculture worldwide. These pathogens secrete an arsenal of effect
 or proteins to modulate plant innate immunity and enable parasitic infecti
 on. Deciphering the biochemical activities of effectors to understand how 
 pathogens successfully colonize and reproduce on their host plants became 
 a driving paradigm in the field. This presentation will focus on effectors
  of oomycetes\, such as the Irish potato famine pathogen Phytophthora infe
 stans. Tremendous progress has been made recently in understanding the bio
 logy of oomycete effectors. Two classes of effectors target distinct sites
  in the host plant: apoplastic effectors are secreted into the plant extra
 cellular space\, while cytoplasmic effectors are translocated inside the p
 lant cell\, where they target different subcellular compartments. Of parti
 cular interest are the RXLR and Crinkler host-translocated (cytoplasmic) e
 ffectors that are characterized by conserved motifs following the signal p
 eptide. The RXLR domain is functionally interchangeable with a malaria hos
 t targeting domain and functions in delivery into host cells. The recent c
 ompletion of six oomycete genome sequences enabled genome-wide cataloguing
  of the effector secretome revealing hundreds of candidate effectors. Effe
 ctors are frequently organized in clusters of paralogous genes\, many of w
 hich exhibit hallmarks of positive selection probably as a result of a coe
 volutionary arms race with host factors. We also utilized the discovered R
 XLR effectors in high-throughput in planta expression assays to screen for
  avirulence and virulence activities. The perturbations caused by these ef
 fectors is helping to elucidate the mechanisms of pathogenicity as well as
  further illuminate mechanisms of plant defense and innate immunity.
LOCATION:Department of Plant Sciences\, Large Lecture Theatre
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