Projected increases in the world's population and global climate change necessitate the increased production of food with fewer artificial inputs. Crop losses due to pathogen infection are substantial and a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling plant defense responses are necessary in order to design novel, environmentally friendly disease control strategies. Plants use their innate immune system, which is triggered by two types of signals, to resist infection by diverse pathogens. The first is a general response that allows plants to sense pathogen-derived components commonly referred to as Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs). The second is called effector-triggered immunity, which represents another level of protection against resistant pathogens that are able to suppress PAMP-induced defenses. The two immune responses have overlapping and distinct nodes. The objective of this project is to define differentially expressed plasma membrane proteins using innovative methods to elucidate the signaling perception and transduction components specific to each immune response. Some of the earliest plant immune responses emanate from the plasma membrane. The unique aspect of this study is that it addresses the very early responses in the plant defense mechanism, an area that is not very well characterized, but key to understanding the dynamics of plant innate immunity and to developing alternative strategies to prevent or control plant disease.
The broader impacts of this project will contribute to science education at multiple levels. The project will result in the training of high-school students and science educators within the public school system as well as undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars. One high school teacher and two high school students from Davis, California will be mentored each summer. The students and teacher will be involved in screening Arabidopsis mutant lines for disease phenotypes. A laboratory module will be developed to teach genotyping and polymerase chain reaction methodologies using the plant material screened each summer. This module will be used to educate a large number of Davis high school students as part of their biology curriculum. Taken together, the teaching and outreach components of this proposal will broadly enhance scientific understanding and career development of a diverse student body.
