Laboratory overview

Figure 1 | Adapted from Dodds & Rathjen, Nature 2010: The Principles of Plant Immunity. Plant pathogens grow in the extracellular spaces of plant issues. Many fungal and oomycete pathogens, including stripe rust, form specialized feeding structures known as haustoria that penetrate host cell walls. Molecules released from the pathogens into the extracellular spaces, such as lipopolysaccharides, flagellin and chitin (pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs)) are recognized by cell surface pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and elicit PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). Many PRRs interact with the related protein BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1-ASSOCIATED KINASE1 (BAK1) to initiate the PTI signalling pathway. Plant pathogens deliver effectors which often act to suppress PTI. However, many are recognized by intracellular nucleotide-binding NB-LRR receptors, which induces effector-triggered immunity (ETI). 

Project: Characterising the genomes of wheat stripe rust

Project: Protein function in plant immunity