A CENTRAL FEATURE OF PLANT DISEASES IS THE ABILITY OF THE PATHOGEN TO DEFEAT THE DEFENSES OF A POTENTIAL HOST. ONE WAY IN WHICH MICROBES OVERCOME PLANT DEFENSES IS BY SECRETING PROTEINS THAT ALTER THE HOST. SOME OF THESE PROTEINS ARE ENZYMES THAT DEGRADE PHYSICAL STRUCTURES OF PLANTS, SUCH AS THEIR CELL WALLS. OTHER PROTEINS SECRETED BY MICROBIAL PATHOGENS ARE TAKEN UP BY PLANT CELLS WHERE THEY INTERFERE WITH THE NORMAL FUNCTION OF PLANT PROTEINS, SUCH AS THOSE THAT ARE INVOLVED IN DEFENSE. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO IDENTIFY THE MOLECULAR FACTORS IN THE PLANT AND PATHOGEN THAT INFLUENCE THE EXPRESSION OF GENES THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR PATHOGENESIS.THE RESEARCH WILL FOCUS ONPHYTOPHTHORA INFESTANS,A FILAMENTOUS FUNGUS-LIKE MICROBE THAT CAUSES THE DISEASES OF POTATO AND TOMATO KNOWN AS LATE BLIGHT. THESE HAVE BEEN PERENNIAL THREATS TO POTATO AND TOMATO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. CLOSE RELATIVES OFP. INFESTANSALSO THREATEN A WIDE RANGE OF FOOD AND FIBER CROPS, ORNAMENTAL AND FOREST PLANTS, AND FARMED FISH AND CRUSTACEANS. STUDYING THE EXPRESSION PATTERNS OF PATHOGEN GEMESDURING INFECTION AS WELL AS THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMSTHAT CONTROL THEIR EXPRESSION WILL BRING SCIENTISTS CLOSER TOTHE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF REDUCING DISEASES CAUSED BY OOMYCETES. THIS WILLIMPROVE THE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF FOOD AND FIBER PRODUCTION AND INCREASE GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY.

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