PL PA 601 Concepts of Plant Pathology Spring 2006 - Alan Collmer

OVERVIEW The course is intended to be a core course for graduate students with a major or minor in plant pathology. The course concerns concepts in host-pathogen relationships with an emphasis on the roles of molecules and cell structures in determining the outcome of an interaction. Evidence for the role of putative disease determinants will be explored in the context of universal stages of pathogenesis and representative pathosystems.

Discussion periods will provide time for discussion of special topics, critiquing of research papers, evaluation of grant proposals, and review sessions. This course can be taken independently of PL PA 602 “Biology of Plant Pathogens,” but several of the discussion periods will be integrated with PL PA 602.

Students will develop a personal computer-based reference collection for use in several aspects of the course. The midterm exam will be written in class. The final exam will be partially written and partially oral. Students will also be required to write a proposal and participate in the evaluation of other student proposals.

Except where noted, the lectures will be presented by Alan Collmer.

THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF PL PA 601 ARE TO ENABLE STUDENTS TO: · gain a deeper knowledge of host-pathogen interactions at the molecular to organismal level, with emphasis on several model pathosystems · become aware of the phenomena in plant-microbe interactions whose elucidation will have the most power in explaining and controlling disease development · understand available research tools and their limitations · use knowledge of interaction to identify current and new potential targets for disease control · learn to plan and evaluate quality research · learn to critically evaluate research papers · practice literature management skills · improve skills for oral and written communication of scientific ideas · develop a better appreciation for professional challenges in plant pathology

SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS · Lectures will be intended as essays to provide insight and perspective. · A general introduction to some of the course topics can be found in: Hammond-Kosack, K., and J. Jones. 2000. Responses to plant pathogens, p. 1102-1156. In B. Buchanan, W. Gruissem, and R. Jones (ed.), Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants. American Society of Plant Physiologists, Rockville, MD. · Selected research and review articles will provide more complete coverage of key topics. · Primary literature also will be searched by students (i) in preparation for essay questions in exams, (ii) for current information on representative diseases, and (iii) in the preparation of research proposals. ASSIGNMENTS (with due dates) · Write a proposal for a project exploring one of the model pathosystems at the molecular or cellular level and participate in the evaluation of other students' proposals: 3/14 Proposal outline is due. 4/11 Complete proposal is due (to be submitted under code name, e.g., Antionette deBary). 4/20 Complete the reviews of two proposals from other students (one as primary reviewer and one as secondary reviewer) and participate in panel discussion and ranking of proposals. (Note that the proposal grade is determined entirely by evaluation of the instructors, not by rank in this exercise.) · Participate in "editorial board" evaluations of research papers and other discussion sessions. · Prepare for midterm and final exams, which will cover all aspects of the course, including: -lecture material -assigned readings -basic knowledge of representative diseases -all material covered and discussed in discussions

GRADING · Discussions 150 · Proposal 200 · Midterm 200 · Final · written 250 oral 200 · Total 1000 LECTURES # Date Topics 1 1/24 Introduction to the course: key concepts and terms 2 1/26 Model pathosystems 3 1/31 Key molecular biological manipulations of pathogens and plants: Bacteria 4 2/2 Fungi and oomycetes 5 2/7 Plants 6 2/9 Genomics 7 2/14 Pathogen attack: Activities of fungal pathogens in the rhizosphere (Eric Nelson) 8 2/16 Attachment and penetration of the host I 9 2/21 Penetration of the host II 10 2/23 Destroying cell wall and tissue structure I 11 2/28 Destroying cell wall and tissue structure II 12 3/2 Disrupting host metabolism and membrane integrity I 13 3/7 Disrupting host metabolism and membrane integrity II 14 3/9 Altering growth and morphology of the host by injecting T-DNA 15 3/14 Subverting host defenses by injecting effector proteins 16 3/16 MIDTERM 17 3/28 Nematode-plant interactions (Zhaohang Wang) 18 3/30 Plant viruses I (Sondra Lazarowitz) 19 4/4 Plant viruses II (Sondra Lazarowitz) 20 4/6 Plant defense: Hypersensitivity and gene-for-gene interactions 21 4/11 Plant resistance genes 22 4/13 Evolutionary and population biology aspects of gene-for-gene interactions (Rebecca Nelson) 23 4/18 Basal resistance 24 4/20 Systemic acquired resistance and induced systemic resistance 25 4/25 Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species 26 4/27 Antimicrobial peptides, defense proteins, phytoanticipins 27 5/2 Phytoalexins and their detoxification 28 5/4 Conclusions and future prospects

DISCUSSIONS # Date Topics (2:00-4:30 unless noted otherwise) 1 1/26 Combined 601/602 session: Introduction to pathosystem and disease control projects 2 2/2 Entire session for 602 3 2/9 Practice in decoding molecular plant-microbe abstracts (2:00-3:10) 4 2/16 Evaluating primary literature (2:00-3:10) 5 2/23 Evaluating primary literature (2:00-3:10) 6 3/2 Combined 601/602 session: Virulence assays in an ecological context 7 3/9 Combined 601/602 session: Pathosystem and disease control projects 8 3/16 Combined 601/602 session: Unifying concepts of prokaryotic biology and pathogenesis 9 3/30 Systems biology approaches to plant-microbe interactions (2:00-3:10) 10 4/6 Combined 601/602 session: How has fundamental research aided disease control? 11 4/13 Integrating R-gene defense concepts (2:00-3:10) 12 4/20 Proposal evaluation panel meetings (entire session for 601) 13 4/27 Combined 601/602 session: Disease control project presentations 14 5/4 Combined 601/602 session: Looking into the crystal ball