University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Faculty Publications from the Center for Plant Plant Science Innovation, Center for Science Innovation 2009 Effectors, Effectors et encore des Effectors: The XIV International Congress on Molecular-Plant Microbe Interactions, Quebec Jonathan D. Walton Michigan State University, [email protected] Tyler J. Avis Carleton University, [email protected] James R. Alfano University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Mark Gijzen Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, [email protected] Pietro Spanu Imperial College, [email protected] See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/plantscifacpub Part of the Plant Biology Commons Walton, Jonathan D.; Avis, Tyler J.; Alfano, James R.; Gijzen, Mark; Spanu, Pietro; Hammond-Kosack, Kim; and Sánchez, Federico, "Effectors, Effectors et encore des Effectors: The XIV International Congress on Molecular-Plant Microbe Interactions, Quebec" (2009). Faculty Publications from the Center for Plant Science Innovation. 101. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/plantscifacpub/101 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant Science Innovation, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications from the Center for Plant Science Innovation by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Authors Jonathan D. Walton, Tyler J. Avis, James R. Alfano, Mark Gijzen, Pietro Spanu, Kim Hammond-Kosack, and Federico Sánchez This article is available at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/plantscifacpub/101 MPMI Vol. 22, No. 12, 2009, pp. 1479–1483. doi:10.1094 / MPMI -22-12-1479. © 2009 The American Phytopathological Society MEETING REVIEW Effectors, Effectors et encore des Effectors: The XIV International Congress on Molecular-Plant Microbe Interactions, Quebec Jonathan D. Walton,1 Tyler J. Avis,2 James R. Alfano,3 Mark Gijzen,4 Pietro Spanu,5 Kim Hammond- Kosack,6 and Federico Sánchez7 1Department of Energy–Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI, U.S.A.; 2Department of Chemistry, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada; 3Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, U.S.A.; 4Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, Canada; 5Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London, U.K.; 6Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, U.K.; 7Departamento de Biología Molecular de Plantas, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Mexico The IS-MPMI held its fourteenth meeting in Quebec City The age of effectors. July 19-23, 2009. There were 956 attendees from 49 countries. Even in a specialized society like IS-MPMI, the flavor and Just over 50% of the participants were students or postdoctoral scientific emphasis is constantly changing. Exactly where the associates. Hani Antoun (Université Laval, Canada) served as spotlight falls and where the greatest momentum of research is Program Chair, capably assisted by the Local Organizing varies from meeting to meeting. The major theme at this con- Committee and the IS-MPMI International Advisory Board. ference was effector proteins—structure, function, transport, There were eight plenary sessions, 18 concurrent sessions, and location—from all classes of pathogens. over 700 posters. Pierre De Wit (Wageningen University, Netherlands) opened Luis Sequeira, professor emeritus of plant pathology at the the scientific sessions with a demonstration that orthologous University of Wisconsin-Madison, a founder and former presi- effector proteins from Cladosporium fulvum (a pathogen of dent of IS-MPMI and a former editor of this journal, gave a tomato) and Mycosphaerella fijiensis (a pathogen of banana) stirring “call to action” opening address the first night. Dr. share common recognition properties. Thus, the M. fijiensis Sequeira expressed his satisfaction with the growth and quality ortholog to C. fulvum Avr4 triggers a hypersensitive response of the scientific research presented over the years at the IS- on Cf-4 tomato plants. Likewise, the M. fijiensis ortholog to C. MPMI Congresses and in the journal but reminded attendees fulvum Ecp2 triggers a hypersensitive response on Cf-Ecp2 of the need to enhance the impact and societal relevance of IS- tomato plants. These findings appear to blur the line between MPMI by “translating” that research into benefits for human- pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-triggered im- kind. His call for translational research became one of the re- munity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI) and offer curring themes of the meeting, as other speakers responded to new prospects for disease control by interspecies transfer of Dr. Sequeira’s comments in their own presentations over the resistance (R) genes. next four days. The importance of charitable organizations that Oomycete effectors have recently captured much attention foster translational research for agricultural development and due to the discovery of conserved host targeting signals that are food security, such as the Two Blades Foundation and the Bill characteristic of rapidly evolving effector gene families in spe- and Melinda Gates Foundation, were mentioned by others as cies of genus Phytophthora. So far, we know of at least twelve emerging examples of how this type of work could be sup- Avr factors from three different oomycete species (P. so ja e, P. ported outside of the mainstream government grant–based infestans, and Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis) that carry the funding model. RxLR host-targeting motif located just downstream of the signal One example of successful translational research was given peptide. Presentations by Sophien Kamoun (Sainsbury Labora- at the plenary session on “Technology Transfer” by Dennis tory, U.K.), Brett Tyler (Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Gonsalves (USDA, Hilo, Hawaii), who recounted the history U.S.A.), and Paul Birch (Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dun- of the successful introduction of transgenic virus-resistant dee) provided the latest details on RxLR effectors, such as their papaya in Hawaii. clustering in particular genome regions, how they may enter Also on the opening night, Jeff Dangl (University of North host cells, and what some of their targets may be. Carolina, U.S.A.), winner of this year’s MPMI Award, posed The P. infestans genome was described by Dr. Kamoun as several questions for current and future work on plant diseases. an exaggeration of features that were evident in the genomes What is the natural diversity of virulence effectors and factors? of P. so j a e and P. ra mo ru m , which were the first two oomycete What is the mechanism by which NB-LRR proteins function? genomes completed some five years ago. Repeat-driven expan- How do we define active nucleotide binding-leucine-rich sion of intergenic regions is especially evident in areas in repeat (NB-LRR) alleles? Examples of answers to these kinds which conserved synteny has broken down among the three of questions were given from Dangl’s recent research on RAR1 species. These extensive repeat-rich regions are populated by and the role of HSP90 in plant disease resistance. genes encoding RxLR effectors and are distinguished from the Vol. 22, No. 12, 2009 / 1479 “core genome,” which is defined by some 40% of all P. i n - P. syringae effector AvrPphB was the topic of a talk by Jian- festans genes that have clear orthologs in the other two spe- Min Zhou (National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, cies. Thus, oomycete genomes can be broadly divided into China). AvrPphB is a cysteine protease that cleaves the Arabi- regions of high gene density and low repeat content with con- dopsis PBS1 kinase. Dr. Zhou showed that it also cleaves other served synteny (the core genome), and repeat-rich regions of protein kinases, including BIK1, earlier shown to be involved low gene density and high effector content (the “plastic ge- in resistance to the fungus Botrytis cinerea. Dr. Zhou and col- nome”). Similar clustering of effector genes in fungal plant leagues determined that AvrPphB can suppress PTI. Interest- pathogens, such as the smut fungi Ustilago maydis, U. scita- ingly, BIK1 is phosphorylated upon activation of FLS2. It minea, and Sporisorium reilianum, was noted by Regine appears that the relationship between PBS1 and BIK1 (and the Kahmann (Max Planck Institute, Marburg, Germany). She other kinases) is analogous to the relationship between the Pto described her recent results on the complex clustered (and re- kinase and the PAMP receptor kinases, which are all targeted dundant) effectors of U. maydis. More than 170 genes encode by the type III effector AvrPto. That is, AvrPto inhibits the Pto predicted secreted and infection-upregulated effectors in U. kinase-inducing Prf-dependent ETI, but its virulence targets maydis. Effector mutants are blocked at different stages of appear to be the PAMP receptor kinases, while AvrPphB infection. Yeast two-hybrid screens to identify host interactors cleaves PBS1 to induce RPS5-dependent ETI. have remained technically challenging; this might be because The talk by Brad Day (Michigan State University, U.S.A.) individual effectors have partially overlapping functions and emphasized the importance of actin dynamics in the response influence each other’s phenotypes. of plants to both bacteria