NIH VideoCasting

Seminar by Dr. Subhra Chakraborty, Director of Indian's National Institute of Plant Genome Research

Abstract: Impending changes in the global climate coupled with mortality associated with fungal infections have resulted in challenges related to food and nutrition. Cell compartmentalization into different subcellular organelles is an attribute conserved in eukaryotes, including plants. Evidences suggest role of these organelles in defense response. However, the dynamic role of their intrinsic crosstalk in cellular signalling and PTM regulation of organellar proteins during pathogen infection remains largely unknown. Blast is one of the most destructive diseases of rice, causing considerable productivity loss. We have explored the numerous molecular interactions that occur between organelles during rice blast using mass-spectrometry based quantitative proteomic, phospho-proteomic, metabolomic, and acetylome analyses. Integrative multiomics data of two different organelles, extracellular matrix (ECM) and nucleus, revealed unique signatures characterizing each stage of infection besides uncovering the convergence and divergence of defense signalling. Altogether, our data highlighted five major signalling cascades operating between ECM and nucleus. The multilevel regulatory network generated in this study sets the foundation for in-depth mechanistic dissection of the inter-organellar crosstalk in immunity. Furthermore, we identified and functionally characterized a nucleotide-binding multi-functional protein with differential acetylation status upon infection, OsIRF6, as a key regulator of immunity that functions downstream of the oxylipin signaling pathway. This study provides valuable insight into understanding the intricate molecular mechanism that governs immunity against blast pathogens and biotechnological strategies for fungal disease resistance in crops.