Sainsbury Laboratory (SLCU) Schornack Group: Structure and function of mycorrhizal fungi effector proteins
Supervisor:
Sebastian Schornack
Overview:
A key feature of successful plant pathogens is their ability to deliver effector proteins into host tissues to suppress immunity, rewire plant metabolism or alter plant development.
Symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi are able to colonise a wide range of plant roots. These fungi also seem to encode small secreted proteins to interfere with the host but their roles in initiating or maintaining a symbiosis are much less well understood.
Using protein structure modelling we have found that both, symbiotic fungi as well as plant pathogens encode structurally similar effector candidates from a protein family called FOLD effectors.
Importance of Research:
This project will shed light onto the role of FOLD effector proteins in symbiosis and their underlying mechanisms. This may unlock new strategies to support the formation of nutritional symbioses for a more sustainable agriculture.
What will the successful applicant do?
As successful applicant you will carry out biochemical, cell biological and molecular approaches to address these questions. For example, you will purify these proteins from plant and bacterial extracts, carry out biochemical binding studies with interacting molecules, express the proteins in plants and record any impact on fungal colonization as well as tissue morphology using advanced microscopy and histology approaches. You will also analyse how host plants change their overall expression patterns when FOLD proteins are active in their tissues.
This project is suitable for a highly self-motivated individual and requires solid previous practical molecular biology experience and the ability to pursue different project lines in parallel.
References:
Teulet et al. 2023, A pathogen effector FOLD diversified in symbiotic fungi. New Phytologist, Volume 239, Issue 3 pp. 1127-1139. DOI:10.1111/nph.18996