diseases caused by bacterial pathogens.
Wenbo Ma, a young plant pathologist at the University of California,
Riverside, has performed research on the soybean plant in the lab that
makes major inroads into our understanding of plant-pathogen
interactions, a rapidly developing area among the plant sciences.
Her breakthrough research can help scientists come up with effective
strategies to treat crops that have succumbed to disease or, when used
as a preventative measure, to greatly reduce their susceptibility to
disease.
Ma, an assistant professor of plant pathology and microbiology, and
her colleagues showed that the bacterial pathogens target isoflavones,
a group of compounds in plant cells that defend the plant from
bacterial infection, resulting in a reduction in isoflavone
production.
First, the pathogens inject virulence bacterial proteins, called
HopZ1, through needle-like conduits into the plant cells. These
proteins then largely reduce the production of the isoflavones and
promote disease development.
However, by sensing the presence of HopZ1, the plants mount a robust
resistance against the pathogen, including the production of a very
high amount of isoflavones. At this point, the pathogen must come up
with new strategies by either changing the kind of proteins it injects
into the plant, not injecting any proteins at all, or injecting
virulence proteins in a way that helps them escape detection by the
plant. In this way, the virulence bacterial proteins and the plant
host engage in an endless "arms race."
"Some scientists have shown that these proteins block signaling
transduction pathways in the plant, which eventually weakens plant
immunity. We are introducing a fresh perspective on this topic,
namely, that the pathogens evolved strategies to directly attack the
production of plant antimicrobial compounds, such as isoflavones, thus
compromising the plant''s defense mechanism," said Ma.
The study has been published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe.
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