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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Plant Gene Expression Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #153078

Title: BIOTIC INTERACTIONS - SIGNALS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY!

Author
item Baker, Barbara
item PARKER, JANE - MAX-PLANCK COLOGNE GERMNY

Submitted to: Current Opinion in Plant Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/2/2003
Publication Date: 8/1/2003
Citation: BAKER, B.J., PARKER, J. BIOTIC INTERACTIONS - SIGNALS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY! CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY. 2003. 6(4):297-299.

Interpretive Summary: The goal of the Baker group is to understand the mechanism of plant'pathogen recognition and signal transduction leading to the induction of disease resistance responses. Their major experimental system involves the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) resistance gene N, the first member of the Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) subfamily of R genes. The group's investigation of the potato genome is generating publicly available genomic resources and manifesting novel information on the structural and functional relationships of resistance-rich regions.

Technical Abstract: Baker: The goal of the Baker group is to understand the mechanism of plant'pathogen recognition and signal transduction leading to the induction of disease resistance responses. Their major experimental system involves the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) resistance gene N, the first member of the Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) subfamily of R genes. This gene has an amino-terminal TIR domain similar to the cytoplasmic domain of the Drosophila Toll and human interleukin-1 receptors that are involved in innate immunity. The group's investigation of the potato genome is generating publicly available genomic resources and manifesting novel information on the structural and functional relationships of resistance-rich regions. Parker: Projects in the Parker group are aimed at unraveling disease resistance signalling pathways in Arabidopsis. Using mutational screens, they have identified genes that are essential for R-gene-triggered resistance, basal resistance and systemic immune responses to microbial pathogens. They are now using a combination of genetic, molecular and biochemical approaches to understand how the regulatory proteins that are encoded by these genes perform their respective roles in plant defense, and to discover which cellular processes they affect. Another interest in the group is to understand mechanisms of species-level (non-host) disease resistance.