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Deciphering Fungal Pathogenesis at the Maize-Pathogen Interface
Deciphering Fungal Pathogenesis at the Maize-Pathogen Interface
The extracellular space (apoplast) is the primary battleground where plants confront invading microbes. Our lab uses the Maize-Ustilago maydis pathosystem to understand how biotrophic fungi successfully manipulate host immunity and colonize plant tissues.
Our Core Research Pillars
Our Core Research Pillars
1. Sensing and Host Adaptation
The Challenge: How do fungal cells know they are on a host? U. maydis must recognize specific plant environmental cues to switch from a benign, yeast-like saprophytic stage to a pathogenic, filamentous stage.
Our Focus: Identifying the exact host signals and fungal surface receptors that integrate these external stimuli to trigger the initial developmental transition.
2. Coordination of Effector Waves
The Challenge: Fungal invasion is not a single event; it is a dynamic timeline. The fungus must deploy different weapons (effectors) at different stages of colonization.
Our Focus: Investigating the regulatory networks and transcription factors that orchestrate these precise "effector waves" as the fungus moves from surface penetration to deep tissue colonization.
3. Suppression of Apoplastic Immunity
The Challenge: The plant apoplast is highly hostile, filled with degradative enzymes and reactive oxygen species (ROS) designed to destroy invaders.
Our Focus: Characterizing how secreted fungal effectors physically interact with and disarm the maize apoplastic defense components, allowing the fungus to establish a comfortable biotrophic niche.
4. Maize Defense and Susceptibility Mechanisms
The Challenge: Resistance is a two-way street. How does the host plant fight back, and where does it fail?
Our Focus: Evaluating the host side of the coin. We study how maize senses U. maydis effectors and pinpoint the specific host physiological changes or susceptibility factors that the fungus exploits to form its characteristic leaf and ear tumors.
Corn smut disease
U. maydis sporidial cells
U. maydis colonizes maize leaves
U. maydis-infected maize seedlings
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