Project Reference: TRG27-PLA-NP1

Project title: Engineering Regulators of Plant Defence 

Project outline

Lactuca sativa (lettuce) is an economically valuable leafy vegetable with UK production worth £200 million but is susceptible to plant pathogens including the fungal necrotrophs Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Chemical control is routinely used but there is an urgent need to identify or engineer sources of host genetic resistance as fungicide-resistant isolates are becoming increasingly common, and approved fungicides are being withdrawn though legislation.

Genetic loci contributing to quantitative resistance against B. cinerea have been mapped in a number of plant species, however, knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying these loci remains lacking, making engineering unpredictable. In an ongoing collaboration with the Denby Lab (University of York) and the Morris lab (John Innes Centre), we have modelled and validated a causal gene regulatory network mediating resistance B. cinerea and S. sclerotiorum in lettuce. Within this network, several WRKY transcription factors act as both negative and positive regulators of defence processes. This project will investigate how these WRKY TFs contribute to plant defence and the conservation of this function, how individual proteins are they able to act as both positive and negative regulators, and if they can be predictable manipulated to improve quantitative resistance. 

  • Javed T, Gao SJ. WRKY transcription factors in plant defense. Trends Genet. 2023 Oct;39(10):787-801. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.07.001.
  • Pink H, Talbot A, Graceson A, Graham J, Higgins G, Taylor A, Jackson AC, Truco M, Michelmore R, Yao C, Gawthrop F, Pink D, Hand P, Clarkson JP, Denby K. Identification of genetic loci in lettuce mediating quantitative resistance to fungal pathogens. Theor Appl Genet. 2022 Jul;135(7):2481-2500. doi: 10.1007/s00122-022-04129-5.
  • Pink H, Talbot A, Carter R, Hickman R, Cooper, O, Law R, Higgins G, Yao C, Gawthrop F, Hand P, Pink D, Clarkson J, Denby K, Graham J, Higgins G, Ta

Principal Supervisor

Dr Nicola Patron

Email address: njp56@cam.ac.uk

Department / Partner Institute: Plant Sciences

Website: http://patronlab.org/

BBSRC strategic theme

Bioscience for sustainable agriculture and food