Project description
Evolution of fungal virulence effectors
Fungal pathogens can escape plant immune defences, leading to disease emergence. Effectors are proteins secreted by fungal pathogens that play a central role in infections. Attempts to probe into the evolutionary drivers of effector diversification have been hindered by the high sequence diversity of effectors. The EU-funded EvolMAX project proposes to overcome this methodological barrier by building on the recent discovery of a structurally-conserved, but sequence-diverse family of effectors called MAX in the model fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. EvolMAX will infer the diversification history of MAX effector repertoires after host-shifts. Improved understanding of the evolutionary changes underlying host shifts will help re-engineer plants and agrosystems to durably reduce the disease burden of cereals caused by fungi.
Objective
The ability of pathogens to escape plant immune system recognition and host defenses is a significant driver of disease emergence. Small proteins secreted by fungal pathogens, named effectors, play a key role in the ability of pathogens to infect novel hosts. Fungal pathogens harbor large and highly diverse repertoires of effectors. This tremendous effector repertoire variability within and between species has hindered the characterization of effectors for their role in adaptation to novel hosts, which is limited to a tiny fraction of effectors. EvolMAX aims to lift this methodological barrier by focusing on one of the first large family of effectors discovered in fungi in order to identify the molecular processes underlying changes in virulence and adaptation to novel hosts. Building on the recent discovery of the MAX (Magnaporthe Avrs and ToxB) family of effectors in the multihost pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, this project will jointly characterize and infer the evolutionary history of reasonably-sized sets of effectors. Using comparative genomics, population genomics, large-scale pathogenicity tests and genome-wide association mapping in host-specific M. oryzae lineages, EvolMAX will identify candidate loci involved in adaptation to novel hosts and raise understanding of the origins, diversification history of fungal effectors. The molecular processes underlying pathogen evolution and host adaptation are essential to design efficient and sustainable disease control strategies.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
75007 Paris
France