Plants respond to a local infection by producing molecules that can travel to different parts of the plant and set in motion a multi-faceted program of defense. This program enables the plant to better fight off future infections. Previous work from this laboratory identified a gene called ALD1 that is important for activating the defense program. ALD1 codes for a protein that can alter the chemical make up of certain amino acids. This research aims to test the hypothesis that modified amino acids are themselves the molecules that travel in plants and activate the defense program or that these amino acids are an intermediate step in the process. The current work seeks to identify genes that act together with ALD1 to activate defenses and to identify possible modified amino acids and/or other metabolites responsible for triggering defenses. The work also seeks to ascertain whether ALD1 has a similar function in different types of plants.
Intellectual merit: This work will serve as a model for understanding how plants defend themselves against disease. In particular, additional components of the defense response pathway will be identified, the properties and/or identity of a potential novel signal molecule(s) will be determined and the generality of defense functions in different plants will be explored.
Broader impacts: Knowledge of the pathway through which plants activate defenses could enable the development of crop plants with robust disease resistance. Plants make hundreds if not more metabolites, but information about their roles in signaling pathways and plant protection is limited. This work could lead to a greater understanding of the role of some metabolites and to the development of approaches to better understand their actions. An important outcome of the project will be the creation of a public database of metabolites induced during the plant defense response. This project will involve significant training opportunities for a postdoctoral scholar, one or more undergraduates and at least one high school student. Ten undergraduates have been trained in this laboratory, most of who have gone on to graduate school. These include eight women, four of whom are members of underrepresented minorities (African-American and Hispanic). Currently, one high school student is involved in significant research activities as part of another NSF-funded project. The lab will continue aggressively offering research opportunities to members of underrepresented groups and high school students as part of this research plan.
