USWBSI Abstract Viewer

2023 National Fusarium Head Blight Forum


Gene Discovery & Engineering Resistance (GDER)

Poster # 311

A Fusarium graminearum Effector FgTPP1 Targets Chloroplasts and Suppresses Plant Immunity

Authors & Affiliations:

Youhuang Xiang1 and Roger W. Innes1
1. Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

Corresponding Author:

Youhuang Xiang
youxiang@iu.edu

Abstract:

Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused mainly by Fusarium graminearum, is a common and destructive fungal disease that frequently occurs worldwide, leading to immense economic cost due to yield loss and grain contamination. However, sustainable genetic resources for FHB are still limited yet. Therefore, engineering resistance in wheat to FHB by creating decoy substrates for FHB effector proteases may be considered as one of promising coping strategies. Here we characterized one putative F. graminearum effector FgTPP1, which contains chloroplast transit peptide, and demonstrated it partially accumulates in chloroplasts and harbors two major forms when transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. Deletion of the N-terminal propeptide section of FgTPP1 results in translocation of FgTPP1 from cytosol to chloroplast. Transient expression of FgTPP1 inhibits RPS5-mediated HR response in tobacco leaves. Wheat LSD1-type zinc finger protein (TaLSD1) was identified as a likely interacting partner of FgTPP1 by yeast two-hybrid screening, and the protein interaction was verified by co-immunoprecipitation. Overall, our results show that FgTPP1 is translocated into chloroplasts once its propeptide is removed, and it may avoid triggering cell death by targeting to TaLSD1 and possibly interfere with plant immunity.


©Copyright 2023 by individual authors. All rights reserved. No part of this abstract or paper publication may be reproduced without prior permission from the applicable author(s).