Botrytis cinerea is a successful fungal pathogen that can infect more than 200 plant species. So far, no host resistance to B. cinerea has been identified. Botrytis uses rather sophisticated strategies to infect host plants; however, the molecular mechanisms of its success are not well understood. Small RNA (sRNA)-mediated RNA interference (RNAi), is a conserved gene silencing mechanism that suppresses gene expression in a sequence specific manner. RNAi has not been well studied in pathogenic fungi, and the roles of sRNAs in host pathogenesis have not been explored in fungal pathogens.
Based on the preliminary data, the investigator has hypothesized that some Botrytis sRNAs are delivered into host cells and function as a novel class of virulence effectors to suppress host immune responses by hijacking host RNAi machinery. This project aims to identify and functionally characterize these Botrytis-derived sRNAs from infected Arabidopsis (a model plant) and tomato, which can potentially target host genes with putative function in immunity. The role of the host target genes in host defense responses will also be examined. This project would reveal a novel strategy that successful pathogens employ to suppress host immunity. The output of this project would be truly transformative and would shed light on the molecular mechanisms of the pathogenicity of virulent fungal pathogens. Such a fundamental discovery would promise to open new perspectives in the pathogen-host interaction field and crop disease management.
This project will provide interdisciplinary training opportunities for undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. As a female faculty, the investigator will serve as a mentor to female underrepresented minority high school students. These students will receive summer training in plant molecular biology in her lab. The investigator seeks to stimulate student interest in agriculture and plant sciences and ultimately help deliver high quality students to UCR and other colleges.
