Magnaporthe oryzae effectors MoHEG13 and MoHEG16 interfere with host infection and MoHEG13 counteracts cell death caused by Magnaporthe-NLPs in tobacco.

Adapted pathogens are able to modulate cell responses of their hosts most likely due to the activity of secreted effector molecules thereby enabling colonisation by ostensible nonhost pathogens. It is postulated that host and nonhost pathogens of a given plant species differ in their repertoire of secreted effector molecules that are able to suppress plant resistance. We pursued the strategy of identifying novel effectors of Magnaporthe oryzae, the causal agent of blast disease, by comparing the infection process of closely related host vs.

Polarized Defense Against Fungal Pathogens Is Mediated by the Jacalin-Related Lectin Domain of Modular Poaceae-Specific Proteins.

Modular proteins are an evolutionary answer to optimize performance of proteins that physically interact with each other for functionality. Using a combination of genetic and biochemical experiments, we characterized the rice protein OsJAC1, which consists of a jacalin-related lectin (JRL) domain predicted to bind mannose-containing oligosaccharides, and a dirigent domain which might function in stereoselective coupling of monolignols. Transgenic overexpression of OsJAC1 in rice resulted in quantitative broad-spectrum resistance against different pathogens including bacteria, oomycetes, and fungi.

The wheat durable, multipathogen resistance gene Lr34 confers partial blast resistance in rice.

The wheat gene Lr34 confers durable and partial field resistance against the obligate biotrophic, pathogenic rust fungi and powdery mildew in adult wheat plants. The resistant Lr34 allele evolved after wheat domestication through two gain-of-function mutations in an ATP-binding cassette transporter gene. An Lr34-like fungal disease resistance with a similar broad-spectrum specificity and durability has not been described in other cereals.

Shoot and root phenotyping of the barley mutant kcs6 (3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase6) depleted in epicuticular waxes under water limitation.

Aerial parts of plants are separated from the environment by a cuticle which functions in protection against desiccation and pathogen attack. Recently, we reported on a barley mutant with defect in the 3-KETOACYL-CoA-SYNTHASE (HvKCS6) gene, resulting in reduced coverage of the cuticle with epicuticular waxes. Spores of adapted and non-adapted powdery mildew fungi germinated less frequently on mutant leaves possibly because plant derived signals are missing.

Evolutionary conserved function of barley and Arabidopsis 3-KETOACYL-CoA SYNTHASES in providing wax signals for germination of powdery mildew fungi.

For plant pathogenic fungi, such as powdery mildews, that survive only on a limited number of host plant species, it is a matter of vital importance that their spores sense that they landed on the right spot to initiate germination as quickly as possible. We investigated a barley (Hordeum vulgare) mutant with reduced epicuticular leaf waxes on which spores of adapted and nonadapted powdery mildew fungi showed reduced germination. The barley gene responsible for the mutant wax phenotype was cloned in a forward genetic screen and identified to encode a 3-KETOACYL-CoA SYNTHASE (HvKCS6), a protein participating in fatty acid elongation and required for synthesis of epicuticular waxes.