Like other organisms, plants are continuously exposed to potential pathogens. Yet most plants are resistant to most pathogens because of multi-layered defenses. The most potent forms of plant defenses are triggered when the plant perceives pathogen-derived molecules. However, these potent inducible defenses also have the potential to adversely affect the plant if not properly kept in check. Using complementary biochemical, cell biological and genetic approaches, this project aims to characterize the machinery that controls the activation of pathogen defenses in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Specifically, the project will determine the function of a protein called SRFR1. The SRFR1 gene was identified based on the fact that mutations in this gene reactivate effective inducible defenses to a particular strain of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae in an Arabidopsis plant line that is normally susceptible to this pathogen. SRFR1 is conserved between plants and animals and is thought to negatively control the expression of genes. Work on SRFR1 should therefore provide insight into the regulation of the gene expression reprogramming process that is known to occur during inducible plant defenses. The broader impacts of this project consist of the education and training of graduate students and post-doctoral researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and include an international collaboration for graduate student training and research with Gyeongsang National University in Korea. In addition, local high school students will have the opportunity to design and perform experiments to identify additional functions of SRFR1 in plant stress responses. Detailed knowledge of the plant pathogen defense response will enable improving the efficacy of innate pathogen defenses in crop plants, with significant benefits to sustainable agricultural and biomass production and the environment.
