Project

Arabidopsis targets of a Botrytis toxin

Botrytis cinerea is an important necrotrophic fungal pathogen. It kills host cells by production of effector proteins and phytotoxic metabolites. One of the important phytotoxic compounds is the sesquiterpene botrydial, which can cause cell death in many plants and is also important for virulence. There is no information on how botrydial kills plant cells, though we have observed very distinct levels of sensitivity between Arabidopsis ecotypes.

The overall aim of the project is to use genetic approaches to identify Arabidopsis genes that contribute to cell death induction by botrydial.

Research aims

  • Analyse T-DNA insertion mutants in candidate genes obtained from Genome Wide Association studies
  • Analyse allelic variation in candidate genes
  • Analyse offspring from crosses between sensitive and insensitive genotypes

Used techniques

  • Arabidopsis phenotyping following botrydial exposure using fluorescence imaging and Botrytis infection
  • Sequencing of allelic variants in distinct genotypes
  • GWAS and BSA analysis
  • Arabidopsis transformation with candidate genes for phenotypic complementation.
  • Biochemistry experiments to check the toxin-triggered immune responses in Arabidopsis mutants

Supervisor