Seminarios IHSM La Mayora - Wenbo Ma (Sainsbury lab, UK)

ABSTRACT The dynamic interplay between virulence factors of a pathogen and the immune system of a host determines whether disease will occur. A deep understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie host-pathogen arms race is essential for developing durable disease resistance. My lab has been interested in understanding a host-pathogen battleground centered on small RNAs (sRNAs). We showed that a specific class of plant sRNAs, secondary small interfering RNAs (siRNA), are important in plant defense by executing trans-species gene silencing. These siRNAs guide target gene silencing in the invading pathogens during infection, thus conferring resistance. As a counter-defense, pathogens have evolved virulence proteins to suppress this pathway and promote disease. In this seminar, I will discuss our most recent progress on this defense-counter-defense arms race. In particular, I will present the identification of an Argonaute protein as a key component of host-induced gene silencing and how sRNA-based defense is incorporated into the canonical plant immune system