Molecular basis of the interaction between plant disease resistance proteins and pathogen avirulence proteins (2009-2011)

To resist disease, plants detect invading pathogens and trigger defense responses. This process is controlled by two genes, a plant resistance (R) gene and a pathogen avirulence (Avr) gene. In the case of flax rust, we demonstrated a direct interaction between the products of the R and Avr genes, determined the crystal structure of the flax rust Avr protein, and produced pure recombinant R protein in Pichia pastoris. The proposed project will build on these results and characterize the interaction between R and Avr proteins through biochemical interaction analysis, mutagenesis and structural biology. The new knowledge will enable the manipulation of the resistance response by engineering effective resistance genes