Initiative will study Phytophthora, a group of fungus-like microbes that cause many devastating plant diseases
The James Hutton Institute has joined forces with the University of Dundee, the Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge (SLCU) and Imperial College London in a study to determine how pathogens cause crop diseases such as potato blight.
The five-year project, which has been awarded £5.91mn from UK Research and Innovation, will start early next year.
Approximately 25 per cent of food is threatened annually by pests and diseases. Chief amongst these threats are fungal and oomycete pathogens, such as Phytophthora infestans, which cause the disease potato blight and contributed to the Irish Potato Famine in the 1800s.
Phytophthora are a group of fungus-like microbes that cause many devastating plant diseases, most notoriously late blight of potatoes and tomatoes, two of the world’s most important vegetable crops. This fast-evolving pathogen has overwhelmed most of the resistant varieties and new solutions are needed to reduce the impact of the disease.
Phytophthora produces an infection structure – the haustorium – which is formed intimately within living plant cells. This structure is a battleground where exchanges of virulence proteins from the pathogen, and defence molecules produced by the host take place.
The successful delivery of these molecules by each protagonist determines the outcome of their interaction – successful infection by Phytophthora or effective defence by the plant.
This new study brings together a multi-disciplinary team of world experts who will determine how the haustorium is formed and how pathogens transform it to their advantage. New molecular, biochemical and cell biological techniques will be used to address how molecules are exchanged between pathogen and the host. It is hoped that improving our understanding of haustoria could eventually lead to the development of measures that protect potatoes and other crops from disease.
Paul Birch, Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Dundee, and a joint appointment with the James Hutton Institute, who will lead the study, said: “These infection structures present a real and present danger to crops that are staples of our diet.
“This is a truly exciting opportunity to make major advances in our understanding of how these key infection structures are formed and function. The funding will consolidate the UK’s leading position in this research area. The understanding that is likely to emerge from our studies will provide new ways to prevent diseases that threaten global food security.”
