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'Pathogenic bacterium modulates host cell-to-cell communication'

Feb 1, 2018 - 3:10 PM
to Feb 1, 2018 - 4:00 PM
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Kyaw Aung
Kyaw Aung

Kyaw (Joe) Aung — Postdoctoral Researcher, Michigan State University

Title: Pathogenic bacterium modulates host cell-to-cell communication

Abstract: Pathogenic bacterial infections pose major threats to human health and crop production. Over the years, intensive studies have yielded insight into the plant-pathogen arms races at the molecular and cellular levels, however, it remains unknown whether such battles also occur in host cells surrounding the bacterial infected cells. To investigate whether pathogenic bacteria manipulate plant cells that are adjacent to the infected cell, I explore the Arabidopsis-Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) DC3000 pathosystem. Pst DC3000 injects 36 virulence “effector” proteins into host cells to suppress plant immunity. Using live cell imaging, I discovered that Pst DC3000 effector protein HopO1-1 is targeted to plasmodesmata (PD) in plants. PD are membrane-lined channels connecting two adjacent plant cells to facilitate cell-to-cell communication, analogous to gap junctions and tunneling nanotubes in animals. Excitingly, expression of HopO1-1 in Arabidopsis increases PD-dependent molecular flux between plant cells. In addition, HopO1-1 physically interacts with and destabilizes Arabidopsis PD-located proteins (PDLP5 and PDLP7); both PDLP5 and PDLP7 are important for plant immunity against bacterial infections. Together, my research has uncovered a novel mechanism by which a bacterial effector manipulates host cell-to-cell communication to promote virulence. The project has carved out a new research topic in microbial pathogenesis and established new experimental protocols to study cell biology at the plant-microbe interface.

Host: Tom Peterson

Refreshments will be served for 20 minutes prior to the start of the seminar.