Improving plant resistance to fungal pathogens through cell wall modification: the callose effect
C. VOIGT (1), T. Hanak (2), B. Sode (1), H. El Kilani (3), M. Naumann (1), D. Eggert (4), C. Betzel (3), R. Reimer (4) (1) University of Hamburg, Phytopathology and Biochemistry, Biocenter Klein Flottbek, Germany; (2) Universiy of Hamburg, Phytopathology and Biochemistry, Biocenter Klein Flottbek, Germany; (3) University of Hamburg, Laboratory for Structural Biology of Infection and Inflammation, Germany; (4) Heinrich Pette Institute - Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Germany; (5) University of Hamburg, Laboratory for Structural Biology of Infection and Inflammation, Germany

The plant cell wall is complex polymer network that forms the outer barrier of plant tissues to the surrounding environment. Its architecture is of great importance to confer resistance to invading pathogens, which are a major threat for crop yield and food security. Plant defense responses include cell wall adaption at sites of pathogen interaction with a decisive role of the cell wall polymer callose, a (1,3)-β-glucan. Our recent results have proven that modification and optimization of callose biosynthesis provides resistance to invading pathogens through network formation with the preexisting cellulosic cell wall, not in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana but also in Brachypodium distachyon and wheat. The application of localization microscopy, the fastest evolving technique in super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, allowed visualization of polymer rearrangements in nanoscale 3D networks and facilitated in situ structural analysis of callose synthase complexes in live cell imaging. With this, in situ live cell super-resolution microscopy represents a new tool in bridging the gap between the molecular and systems level in plant pathology. Understanding the subcellular and molecular mechanisms of plant cell wall biosynthesis and architecture also on a structural level will lead to the identification of key modulators and factors for cell wall engineering to successfully design crops with improved pathogen resistance.


Abstract Number: P6-3
Session Type: Plenary