title: Non-self recognition, transcriptional reprogramming, and secondary metabolite accumulation during plant/pathogen interactions.
abstract: Disease resistance of plants involves two distinct forms of chemical communication with the pathogen: recognition and defense. Both are essential components of a highly complex, multifaceted defense response, which begins with non-self recognition through the perception of pathogen-derived signal molecules and results in the production, inter alia, of antibiotically active compounds (phytoalexins) and cell wall-reinforcing material around the infection site. To elucidate the molecular details and the genomic basis of the underlying chains of events, we used two different experimental systems: suspension-cultured cells of Petroselinum crispum (parsley) and wild-type as well as mutant plants of Arabidopsis thaliana. Particular emphasis was placed on the structural and functional identification of signal and defense molecules, and on the mechanisms of signal perception, intracellular signal transduction and transcriptional reprogramming, including the structural and functional characterization of the responsible cis-acting gene promoter elements and transacting regulatory proteins. Comparing P. crispum and A. thaliana allows us to distinguish species-specific defense mechanisms from more universal responses, and furthermore provides general insights into the nature of the interactions. Despite the complexity of the pathogen defense response, it is experimentally tractable, and knowledge gained so far has opened up a new realm of gene technology-assisted strategies for resistance breeding of crop plants.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Carl-von-Linne-Weg 10, D-50829 Köln, Germany. hahlbroc@mpiz-koeln.mpg.de
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hahlbrock
authors.forename: Pawel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bednarek
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ciolkowski
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hamberger
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heise
authors.forename: Hiltrud
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liedgens
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Logemann
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nürnberger
authors.forename: Elmon
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schmelzer
authors.forename: Imre E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Somssich
authors.forename: Jianwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000502:physiology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry; D028528:Petroselinum / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010940:Plant Proteins