Project
Stop lily fire blight
Botrytis elliptica is an important fungal disease of lilies. Massive amounts of fungicides are applied in NL to control the disease. The fungus is specialised on lily and we have evidence that effector proteins produced by the fungus are important in its virulence and host specificity. Firstly, B. elliptica effector proteins can cause cell death in lily and secondly the susceptibility of lily cultivars to the fungus correlates with sensitivity to the effector proteins.
Research aims
The project aims to identify which effector proteins are important for virulence and use these proteins as tools in the breeding for new varieties that are more resistant to B. elliptica.
- Generate targeted gene knockout mutants in B. elliptica effector genes and functionally characterize the mutants.
- Analyse genetic diversity in effector genes in B. elliptica isolates (either field isolates, or offspring from crosses).
- Produce effector proteins in a yeast and test them for cell death-inducing activity.
Used techniques
- Fungal transformation (CRISPR-Cas9)
- Isolation and propagation of offspring from sexual crosses
- Disease assays with fungal transformants
- Sequence analysis of genetic diversity of effector proteins
- Protein production in Pichia, purification