My pronouns are she/her
I have completed my DPhil research on investigating recognition of unrelated extracellular pathogen-derived protease inhibitors in Solanaceae. Oomycete pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, fungal pathogen Cladosporium fulvum and bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, secrete small protein inhibitors or effectors in the host apoplast. Certain host cysteine proteases are convergently targeted with variable affinities by unrelated pathogen-secreted inhibitors, These interactions either get perceived by extracellular Receptor-like Proteins (RLPs) that further trigger a hypersensitive response (HR)/localised cell-death response or remain stealthy and escape recognition by RLP. Therefore, a large number of wild crop relatives were screened to identify frequency of inhibitor recognition and variations across geographic centres of population origin. Using DNA-based PCR and sequencing approaches, genetic variation in underlying candidate immunity genes was analysed and an in-silico pipeline was developed to understand the phylogenetic evolution and diversity of candidate RLP in solanaceae. Uncovering allelic variations existing in wild relatives can facilitate bioengineering of crop resistance against economically important pathogens.
