International Journal of Molecular Sciences

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Vardis Ntoukakis

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Guest Editor

School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Warwick CV4 7AL, UK
Interests: plant microbe interactions; epigenetic; signalling; plant immunity; Pseudomonas

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants live in association with a vast array of microbes. Remarkably, plants are resilient to most microbial infections, and disease is the exception. After 40 years of intense research, we now have a good understanding of how plants recognise microbes and control their growth. However, a lot of molecular mechanisms leading to resistance against pathogenic microbes are not fully understood.

This Special Issue is focused on molecular mechanisms leading to immunity against pathogenic microbes. It will include both original articles and reviews on all aspects of plant–microbe interactions. Potential topics include but are not limited to pathogen recognition, interplay of immune responses and growth, and plant responses to pathogens and biocontrol agents.

Dr. Vardis Ntoukakis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

Pathogen recognition
Effectors
MAMP-triggered immunity
transcriptomics
biocontrol agents
epigenetics
Plant resistance
R genes
Receptors
Bioinformatics
Cell death

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 61149 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Clavibacter michiganensis Downregulates Photosynthesis and Modifies Monolignols Metabolism Revealing a Crosstalk with Tomato Immune Responses

by Dikran Tsitsekian, Gerasimos Daras, Konstantina Karamanou, Dimitris Templalexis, Konstantinos Koudounas, Dimitris Malliarakis, Theologos Koufakis, Dimitris Chatzopoulos, Dimitris Goumas, Vardis Ntoukakis, Polydefkis Hatzopoulos and Stamatis Rigas

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(16), 8442; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22168442 - 05 Aug 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2921

Abstract

The gram-positive pathogenic bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis (Cmm) causes bacterial canker disease in tomato, affecting crop yield and fruit quality. To understand how tomato plants respond, the dynamic expression profile of host genes was analyzed upon Cmm infection. Symptoms of bacterial canker became evident from the third day. As the disease progressed, the bacterial population increased in planta, reaching the highest level at six days and remained constant till the twelfth day post inoculation. These two time points were selected for transcriptomics. A progressive down-regulation of key genes encoding for components of the photosynthetic apparatus was observed. Two temporally separated defense responses were observed, which were to an extent interdependent. During the primary response, genes of the phenylpropanoid pathway were diverted towards the synthesis of monolignols away from S-lignin. In dicots, lignin polymers mainly consist of G- and S-units, playing an important role in defense. The twist towards G-lignin enrichment is consistent with previous findings, highlighting a response to generate an early protective barrier and to achieve a tight interplay between lignin recomposition and the primary defense response mechanism. Upon progression of Cmm infection, the temporal deactivation of phenylpropanoids coincided with the upregulation of genes that belong in a secondary response mechanism, supporting an elegant reprogramming of the host transcriptome to establish a robust defense apparatus and suppress pathogen invasion. This high-throughput analysis reveals a dynamic reorganization of plant defense mechanisms upon bacterial infection to implement an array of barriers preventing pathogen invasion and spread. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Microbe Interactions from Recognition to Resistance)

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Review

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14 pages, 801 KiB

Open AccessReview

Intertwined Roles of Reactive Oxygen Species and Salicylic Acid Signaling Are Crucial for the Plant Response to Biotic Stress

by Tjaša Lukan and Anna Coll

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(10), 5568; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23105568 - 16 May 2022

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3345

Abstract

One of the earliest hallmarks of plant immune response is production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in different subcellular compartments, which regulate plant immunity. A suitable equilibrium, which is crucial to prevent ROS overaccumulation leading to oxidative stress, is maintained by salicylic acid (SA), a chief regulator of ROS. However, ROS not only act downstream of SA signaling, but are also proposed to be a central component of a self-amplifying loop that regulates SA signaling as well as the interaction balance between different phytohormones. The exact role of this crosstalk, the position where SA interferes with ROS signaling and ROS interferes with SA signaling and the outcome of this regulation, depend on the origin of ROS but also on the pathosystem. The precise spatiotemporal regulation of organelle-specific ROS and SA levels determine the effectiveness of pathogen arrest and is therefore crucial for a successful immune response. However, the regulatory interplay behind still remains poorly understood, as up until now, the role of organelle-specific ROS and SA in hypersensitive response (HR)-conferred resistance has mostly been studied by altering the level of a single component. In order to address these aspects, a sophisticated combination of research methods for monitoring the spatiotemporal dynamics of key players and transcriptional activity in plants is needed and will most probably consist of biosensors and precision transcriptomics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant–Microbe Interactions from Recognition to Resistance)

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