Description du projet
Étude de l’influence des parois cellulaires des plantes sur la coévolution plantes-microbes
La paroi cellulaire d’une plante est une structure complexe qui remplit plusieurs fonctions tout au long de son cycle de vie. Le projet DYNWALL, financé par l’UE, remet en question l’hypothèse selon laquelle la paroi fait office de barrière protégeant les cellules en réponse à un stress biotique, sur la base de précédents travaux menés par des chercheurs participant au projet. En se servant d’Arabidopsis thaliana comme plante modèle et de Fusarium oxysporum comme agent pathogène racinaire, les chercheurs ont découvert que la cellule végétale ne formait pas une barrière statique. Les chercheurs adopteront des approches moléculaires, biochimiques, génétiques et de bio-imagerie afin d’acquérir des connaissances inédites sur les mécanismes moléculaires responsables de la régulation de la signalisation immunitaire innée chez les plantes. En outre, leurs travaux permettront de gagner une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes généraux qui régulent les interactions plantes-microbes en dehors des membranes plasmiques.
Objectif
Plants have a strong yet extensible wall as their outermost layer, which is indispensable for the survival of the cell and permits cell adhesion. The plant cell wall (CW) plays an essential role in response to biotic stress, as it constitutes the first contact substrate for microbes. Our findings using the model pathosystem consisting of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana and a root pathogen that can infect it, Fusarium oxysporum (Fo), confirm that the plant CW is not the static barrier it has been seen as until recently. On the contrary, based on our preliminary data, we hypothesize that plant CW remodeling at the subcellular level plays an essential role in the outcome of the plant-microbe interaction, which might explain the sophisticated mechanisms of plant-endophyte (pathogen, neutral or beneficial) co-evolution. Our work has established a foundation of tools that provide a timely and unprecedented opportunity to test this idea. We aim to elucidate the role of root-specific CW composition and its dynamic changes in root-Fo interaction. Then, we will use this knowledge to modulate the CW properties of the root cell layers to reduce Fo pathogenesis while maintaining beneficial endophytism. Through a unique combination of well-established and high-risk/high-gain molecular, biochemical, bioimaging, and genetics approaches, this project will provide groundbreaking insights not only into the molecular mechanisms underlying CW-dependent establishment and regulation of innate immune signaling in plants, but also into general mechanisms that control plant-microbe interaction outside the plasma membranes. The knowledge gained from this work will advance our current understanding of plant-microbe co-evolution. In addition, we will generate innovative methodologies that will be applicable in designing strategies to reduce damage caused by vascular pathogens in crops.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régime de financement
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstitution d’accueil
28006 Madrid
Espagne