The Crop Science Centre, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
The signal, the conductor, and the orchestra: Current understanding of plant-parasitic nematode infection biology
Pathogens must precisely tailor their gene expression to cause infection. Our recent work on the regulation of plant-parasitism by nematodes shows which genes they use to facilitate infection (the orchestra), how those genes are regulated (the conductor), and what triggers their production (the signal). In this talk, I will present the "effectostimulin hypothesis": that the invasion of the plant by the parasitic nematode is controlled by a feed-forward loop driving infection. Combining the understanding that: i) this feed-forward loop is required for infection; with ii) aspects of the effectostimulin hypothesis which are generalisable - we highlight scope for potentially broader impact in pathogens which secrete effectors.
