The John Innes Centre receives strategic funding from BBSRC
The John Innes Centre receives strategic funding from BBSRC
Disease & Stress BiologyResearch AreasSignal TransductionPlants must be able to respond to both biotic and abiotic challenges in the surrounding environment. Recognising the presence of micro-organisms by the plant is central to both the establishment of symbiotic interactions and the activation of plant defences during pathogen attack. Conversely the recognition of the host plant is critical for symbionts to produce signals to the plant and is vital for pathogens to activate invasion strategies. This signal exchange between organisms invariably represents the first stages of these interactions. In the Department of Disease and Stress Biology, a number of groups are studying the mechanisms of signal transduction during plant/microbe interactions. In the pathogen Magnaportha grisea we are analysing the processes that are vital for the recognition of plant surfaces (leaves/roots) and the induction of fungal structures associated with plant infection. In the plant we are assessing signal transduction at multiple stages during pathogen attack. We are studying the early recognition of fungal pathogens such as Blumeria, Fusarium and rusts and characterising the role of hormone signalling in these processes. At later stages of pathogen interaction, we are characterising the signalling components that establish systemic acquired resistance, a process that protects the entire plant after localised attack by a pathogen. In this way the department is studying multiple levels of signalling during plant/pathogen interactions. Signalling is also central to the establishment of symbiotic interactions and groups within the department are focusing on the signalling pathways that are responsible for recognising mycorrhizal fungi as well as nitrogen fixing rhizobial bacteria. It has been shown that a conserved signalling pathway, the Sym pathway, is necessary for both mycorrhization and nodulation. Calcium acts as a secondary messenger in this signalling pathway and we are leading studies in the role of calcium in symbiotic signalling.
|
||||
