The Consortium

The consortium is composed of groups studying the roles and recognition of effectors in a wide range of pathosystems.

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 [1]
• Phytophthora capsici interactions with tomato, pepper and Nicotiana benthamiana [2]
• Pectobacterium and Dickeya bacterial species interactions with potato [3]
• Bacterial pathogens of humans and their associations with plants [4]
• Potato cyst nematode interactions with potato and tomato [5]
• Aphid-plant interactions [6]
• 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?
• Can we find or synthesise resistance genes that provide durable disease resistance?