Abstract
In the fight against microbial infection the posttranslational modification of proteins with ubiquitin is used to transduce signals required for an innate immune response. Pathogens have developed strategies to evade this host defense mechanism by subverting the ubiquitylation machinery. This project aims to understand how effectors from Gram-negative bacteria manipulate ubiquitin conjugation pathways to undermine pattern-triggered immunity in plants. This knowledge will be used to develop together with our industrial partner a novel crop protection agent. The project requires an interdisciplinary approach using techniques from different branches like structural biology, physical biochemistry, chemical biology, molecular cloning, microbiology and plant genetics.
References
1. Leonard S, Hommais F, Nasser W, Reverchon S.Plant-phytopathogen interactions: bacterial responses to environmental and plant stimuli. Environ Microbiol. 2017 May;19(5):1689-1716
2. Lin YH, Machner MP. Exploitation of the host cell ubiquitin machinery by microbial effector proteins. J Cell Sci. 2017 Jun 15; 130(12):1985-1996
3. Nakano M, Oda K, Mukaihara T. Ralstonia solanacearum novel E3 ubiquitin ligase (NEL) effectors RipAW and RipAR suppress pattern-triggered immunity in plants. Microbiology 2017; 163:992–1002
4. Stieglitz B, Rana RR, Koliopoulos MG, Morris-Davies AC, Schaeffer V, Christodoulou E, Howell S, Brown NR, Dikic I, Rittinger K. Structural basis for ligase-specific conjugation of linear ubiquitin chains by HOIP. Nature. 2013, 503(7476), 422-6.
5. Kozuleva M, Goss T, Twachtmann M, Rudi K, Trapka J, Selinski J, Ivanov B, Garapati P, Steinhoff HJ, Hase T, Scheibe R, Klare JP, Hanke GT.(2016) Ferredoxin:NADP(H) Oxidoreductase Abundance and Location Influences Redox Poise and Stress Tolerance.Plant Physiol. 172(3):1480-1493.