Seminar: Beyond the twilight zone: Unravelling the odyssey of a Ustilago maydis - maize interaction

Abstract: Microbial pathogens are responsible for around 10% of pre-harvest crop losses worldwide. This threat has fueled the need to develop crops with better resistance to diseases. Elucidating the mechanisms of plant colonization by pathogens is crucial, and model organisms like Ustilago maydis have significantly advanced our understanding. Proteomics work in our lab revealed that U.maydis effector proteins localized inside the host’s chloroplast during infection. We followed up on this study, characterizing the role of one of the putative chloroplast effector, Pce3, in Arabidopsis thaliana. We hypothesize that U. maydis effectors target the host’s chloroplast functions during infection. We found that Pce3 interacts with the chloroplast DEAD-box RNA helicase, RH3 and the phenotypes associated with Pce3 overexpression are reminiscent of disregulated RH3 expression. This work sheds light on some of the sophisticated mechanisms used by pathogens to target their host cellular machinery.