Plant-pathogen coevolution and pathogen-informed disease control

Abstract:

Plant-pathogens constantly coevolve with their hosts. During infection, plant pathogens secrete so-called effector proteins into the host cell where they interact with plant proteins to promote disease. In turn, plants have evolved a sophisticated immune system to detect pathogen molecules that consists of cell-surface and intracellular immune receptors. This coevolutionary dance left signatures in the genomes and virulence effector proteins of plant pathogenic fungi. Virulence effectors are often encoded in dynamic accessory regions of the genome enabling rapid adaptive changes that shape their interaction interfaces. This rapid adaptation is supported by a heterogeneous genome organisation into relatively stable house-keeping and dynamic accessory regions. An extreme example of genomic compartmentalisation are so-called mini-chromosomes. These extra chromosomes are variable within pathogen lineages and facilitate chromosomal rearrangements and horizontal chromosome transfer, ultimately increasing the genetic diversity of pathogen populations. We leverage our knowledge about plant-pathogen coevolution and pathogen virulence strategies to design bioengineered plant immune receptors and deliver tailored resistance against specific pathogen lineages. Ultimately, we envision an experimental framework to guide pathogen-driven predictive resistance breeding in crop plants.

Publications:

Bentham et al., 2021. A single amino acid polymorphism in a conserved effector of the multihost blast fungus pathogen expands host-target binding spectrum. PLOS Pathogens https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009957(link is external).

Langner et al., 2026. Rewinding the tape: historical contingency and functional constraints have shaped the evolution of APikL virulence effectors in the blast fungus. Biology Letters https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0545(link is external).

Barragan et al., 2024. Multiple Horizontal Mini-chromosome Transfers Drive Genome Evolution of Clonal Blast Fungus Lineages. Molecular Biology and Evolution https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msae164(link is external).