Plant immunity depends on fast and specific transcriptional reprogramming triggered by the perception of biotic stresses. Numerous studies have been conducted to better understand the response of plants to the generalist herbivore two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae). However, how plants perceive mites and how this perception is translated...
The genome of rice blast fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae) encodes 15 glycoside hydrolase 18 family chitinases. In this study, we characterized the function of an M. oryzae extracellular chitinase, MoChi1, and its interaction with a host protein, OsMBL1, a jacalin-related Mannose-Binding Lectin (MBL) in rice (Oryza sativa). Deletion of MoChi1 resulted in...
Defects in the nuclear lamina of animal cell nuclei have dramatic effects on nuclear structure and gene expression as well as diverse physiological manifestations. We report that deficiencies in CROWDED NUCLEI (CRWN), which are candidate nuclear lamina proteins in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), trigger widespread changes in transcript levels a...
Plant synthetic biology is a rapidly evolving field with new tools constantly emerging to drive innovation. Of particular interest is the application of synthetic biology to chloroplast biotechnology to generate plants capable of producing new metabolites, vaccines, biofuels, and high-value chemicals. Progress made in the assembly of large DNA mole...
Trichoderma spp. are a rich source of secondary metabolites and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which may induce plant defenses and modulate plant growth. In filamentous fungi, chromatin modifications regulate secondary metabolism. In this study we investigated how the absence of histone deacetylase HDA-2 in the Trichoderma atroviride strain Δhd...
The corn leaf aphid (CLA; Rhopalosiphum maidis) is a phloem sap-sucking insect that attacks many cereal crops, including maize (Zea mays). We previously showed that the maize inbred line Mp708, which was developed by classical plant breeding, provides enhanced resistance to CLA. Here, using electrophysiological monitoring of aphid feeding behavior,...
Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) are bacterial Type-III effector proteins from phytopathogenic Xanthomonas species that act as transcription factors in plants. The modular DNA-binding domain of TALEs can be reprogrammed to target nearly any DNA sequence. Here, we designed and optimized a two-component AND-gate system for synthetic cir...
Magnaporthe oryzae is a fungal pathogen that causes rice (Oryza sativa) blast. SNAREs (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors) are key components in vesicle trafficking in eukaryotic cells and are known to contribute to fungal pathogen resistance. Syntaxin of Plants121 (SYP121), a Qa-SNARE, has been reported to funct...
The mechanisms by which plants activate and enhance defense responses have been well studied; however, the regulatory mechanisms that allow plants to avoid excessive defense responses are poorly understood. Here, we identified a group D mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) gene from rice (Oryza sativa), OsMAPK20-5, whose expression was rapidly i...
Unraveling and exploiting mechanisms of disease resistance in cereal crops is currently limited by their large repeat-rich genomes and the lack of genetic recombination or cultivar (cv)-specific sequence information. We cloned the first leaf rust resistance gene Rph1 (Rph1.a) from cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare) using “MutChromSeq,” a recently ...
