Poster
Laura Rehneke
Justus Liebig University Giessen, Institute of Phytopathology
Giessen, Hessen, Germany
Rory Osborne
University of Birmingham, School of Biosciences
Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Silke Lehmann
University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences
Warwick, England, United Kingdom
Yingqi Zhang
Northwest A&F University, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas and College of Agronomy
Yangling, Shaanxi, China (People's Republic)
Jemma Roberts
University of Warwick, School of Life Sciences
Warwick, England, United Kingdom
Stefan Altmann
Helmholtz Center Munich for Environmental Health, Institute of Network Biology, Molecular Targets and Therapeutics Center
Munich-Neuherberg, Bayern, Germany
Eva Koepf
Ulm University, Institute of Molecular Botany
Ulm, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Ruth Eichmann
Justus Liebig University Giessen, Institute of Phytopathology
Giessen, Hessen, Germany
Pascal Falter-Braun
Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Microbe-Host Interactions, Faculty of Biology
Munich, Bayern, Germany
Weixing Shan
Northwest A&F University, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas and College of Agronomy
Yangling, Shaanxi, China (People's Republic)
Patrick Schäfer
Justus Liebig University Giessen, Institute of Phytopathology
Giessen, Hessen, Germany
Beneficial symbioses are of utmost importance for plant survival under stressful environments since plant colonisation of land. However, it is mostly unknown how beneficial symbionts improve plant stress resilience. Similar to pathogens, beneficial symbionts transfer small, secreted proteins termed effectors into plants for successful host colonisation. Using the endophytic, root colonising fungus Serendipita indica (Si) we analysed over 100 Si effector candidates (SIECs) and identified their host protein targets. These analyses revealed that beneficial effectors have functions that distinguishes their activity from pathogen effectors. SIECs broadly alter plant hormone signalling to adjust plant stress networks and to increase stress resilience and growth of host plants. Moreover, it revealed the suitability of symbiont effectors to inform the function of host proteins and thus dissect highly complex signalling networks regulating plant fitness under stress. Our analyses uncover the organisation and regulation of beneficial plant signalling pathways and reveal their potential in sustaining plant growth under changing environments.