The consortium is composed of groups studying the roles and recognition of effectors in the following pathosystems:
- Phytophthora infestans interactions with potato, tomato and Nicotiana benthamiana
- Phytophthora capsici interactions with tomato, pepper and Nicotiana benthamiana
- Pectobacterium and Dickeya bacterial species interactions with potato
- Bacterial pathogens of humans and their associations with plants
- Potato cyst nematode interactions with potato and tomato
- Aphid-plant interactions
- Virus-plant interactions
- Fungal pathogens of barley
The consortium creates critical mass, through comparative studies, shared platforms, resources, approaches, and ideas, to address key fundamental questions in plant pathology.
Key Questions
- What are the principal targets of pathogen effectors that suppress innate immunity?
- What are the roles of effector targets in activating or regulating innate immunity?
- How do distantly-related plant pathogens establish biotrophic interactions with their hosts?
- What are the molecular bases of host-range and host-specificity?
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Can we find or synthesise resistance genes that provide durable disease resistance?