Effectors in symbiotic AMF-plant interaction
A. HOFFRICHTER (1), K. Sedzielewska Toro (1), A. Brachmann (1) (1) Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany

Symbiotic interaction between AMF (Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi) and plant host requires a well-adjusted dialog in order to function properly. We hypothesise that one of the key components of this communication is the fungal effectome, proteins released to alter plant cell structure or function, allowing a successful plant infection. In contrast to pathogenic systems, the function of effector proteins in symbiotic fungal-plant interactions remains largely unknown. In this study, we generated a bioinformatic pipeline to predict and compare effector candidates of the two AMF species, Rhizophagus irregularis and Rhizophagus clarus. Our in silico pipeline revealed a list of numerous candidate effector proteins creating a valuable source of information to further elucidate the mechanisms of plant infection and colonization by AMF. While most of the candidate effectors show no homologies to known proteins or domains, few candidates with known homology point to potential roles in signal transduction, cell wall modification and transcription regulation. Remarkably, we found that most (95%) of the symbiotic effector proteins are not unique to each fungi or plant species, but shared along the Glomeromycota phylum. Interestingly, 9% of the predicted effectors show conservation level between the two Rhizophagus species as high as housekeeping proteins (similarity > 90%). Therefore, we state that the group of highly conserved effector proteins between the two AMF species may play a fundamental role during fungus-plant interaction establishment. Hence, we prioritise them for functional characterization by means of variety of methods including successfully applied Host Induced Gene Silencing (HIGS).

Abstract Number: P2-48
Session Type: Poster