Project Details
Description
The recent flood of genomic studies coupled with powerful new molecular technologies has led to rapid advances in our understanding of host/pathogen interactions. Host defense mechanisms and mechanisms of pathogen virulence are just a few of the topics that can now be addressed with some depth. As new information is obtained from some of the most thoroughly studied systems, it becomes that much clearer the extent to which we still have only limited understanding about host/pathogen interactions. It has become evident that interactions between bacterial pathogens and higher organisms such as complex plants and animals rely on highly evolved, sophisticated communications between the two partners. However, much less is known about interactions established between bacterial pathogens and lower eukaryotes. These interactions likely represent host/pathogen interactions at the most fundamental level, involving rudimentary pathways and processes that have provided the basis from which more complex pathogen virulence and host defense systems have evolved. Our overall goal is to utilize the interaction between the biocontrol agent Lysobacter enzymogenes, a bacterial pathogen of fungi, and the economically important fungal pathogen of rice, Magnaporthe oryzae, as a simple model system of study. Gaining knowledge of pathogen attack and fungal host defense is expected to improve our understanding of host/pathogen interactions, as well as allow for the harnessing of this information into application-based systems for more effective crop production.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 10/1/12 → 9/30/14 |
Funding
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture: $399,990.00