Every Jack has his Jill: Unveiling nuclear host targets of Phytophthora capsici RxLR effectors
S. ENGELHARDT (1), A. Howden (1), S. ten Have (2), E. Huitema (1) (1) Division of Plant Sciences, University of Dundee; Dundee Effector Consortium, Dundee, UK, United Kingdom; (2) Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, University of Dundee, United Kingdom

In order to colonise host tissue, the broad host-range oomycete pathogen Phytophthora capsici secretes an array of effector proteins to suppress plant immunity-associated processes. However, information on effector mode-of-action towards host factors and their impact on disease progression is limited. We have previously shown, that a large suite of candidate RxLR and CRN effectors localise to the nucleus and subnuclear structures. Proteomics analyses on host nuclei isolated from infected tissues has revealed both the presence of effectors during infection as well as dynamic changes in the host nuclear proteome. In order to understand disease-associated processes in the nucleus, we aim to combine results from Yeast-2-Hybrid and co-immunoprecipitation-based effector-target screens with our quantitative mass-spectroscopic analyses of nuclear proteomes, to identify candidate RxLR target proteins and their putative complex constituents. These analyses combined with functional and biochemical characterisation of effector-target interactions will help to provide a comprehensive overview of disease-associated nuclear processes. Furthermore, we suggest that our approach will inform new powerful strategies that enable relatively fast characterisation of host-pathogen interactions for which genome sequences are available.

Abstract Number: P9-253
Session Type: Poster