报告题目：Pathogen effectors as molecular probes to understand pathogenesis

报告人：Wenbo Ma 教授，University of California Riverside

时间：2017年8月7日上午9:00

地点：生命科学大楼3019会议室

联系人：刘西莉，电话：62731013

报告人简介：

Wenbo Ma

Professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology

Director, Interdepartmental Graduate Program for Microbiology

Center for Plant Cell Biology

Institute for Integrative Genome Biology

University of California Riverside

Biography & Research Interests

Molecular Plant-Pathogen Interactions

LAB WEBPAGE: www.wenboma.ucr.edu

My laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms underlying microbial pathogenesis. In particular, we are interested in elucidating the strategies employed by bacteria and oomycete pathogens to facilitate the establishment and maintenance of symbiotic relationship with plant hosts. A combination of comparative genomic, functional genomic, genetic, biochemical and bioinformatic approaches is utilized to accomplish these goals. Novel knowledge obtained from our research will contribute to the development of sustainable control strategies against these destructive plant diseases.

The main focus of our research is a group of specialized virulence proteins, called effectors, which are secreted from the pathogens and directly manipulate specific physiological processes or signaling pathways in host cells for the benefit of infection. A broad range of parasites, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, protozoa, insects and nematodes, subvert host immunity through the functions of effectors. We are working on the type III effectors of bacterial pathogens and the RxLR effectors of Phytophthora pathogens to understand their functions and evolution during the arms race with plant hosts.

Representative Publications

1 Ma K-W.*, Ma W.* (2016) YopJ family effectors promote bacterial infection through a unique Ser/Thr/Lys acetyltransferase activity. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 80: 1011-1027.

2 Zhang Z. ^#, Ma K-W. ^#, Yuan S., Luo Y., Jiang S., Pang S., Ma W.*, Song J*. (2016) Structure of a pathogen effector reveals the enzymatic mechanism of a novel acetyltransferase family. Nature Structure and Molecular Biology. 23: 847-852.

3 Kuan T.^#, Zhai Y.^#, Ma W.* (2016) Small RNAs regulate plant responses to filamentous pathogens. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology. Doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.05.013.

4 Ye W., Ma W.* (2016) Filamentous pathogen effectors interfering with small RNA silencing in plant hosts. Current Opinion in Microbiology. 32: 1-6.

5 Ma K-W., Ma W.* (2016) Phytohormone pathways as targets of pathogens to facilitate infection. Plant Molecular Biology. 91: 713-725.

6 Ma K-W., Jiang S., Hawara E., Lee D.H., Pan S., Coaker G., Song J., Ma W.* 2015. Two serine residues in Pseudomonas syringae effector HopZ1a are required for acetyltransferase activity and association with the host co-factor. New Phytologist. doi: 10.1111/nph.13528.  

7 Qiao Y., Shi J., Zhai Y., Hou Y., Ma W.* 2015. Phytophthora effector targets a novel regulator of small RNA pathway in plants to promote infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.112: 5850-5855. 

8 Xiong Q.,Ye W.,Choi D., Wong J., Qiao Y., Tao K., Wang Y., Ma W.* 2014. Phytophthora Suppressor of RNA Silencing 2 is a Conserved RxLR Effector that Promotes Infection in Soybean and Arabidopsis thaliana. Mol Plant-Micro Interact. 27: 1379-1389.  

9 Wong J., Gao L., Yang Y., Zhai J., Arikit S., Yu Y., Duan S., Chan V., Xiong Q., Yan J., Li S., Liu R., Wang Y., Tang G., Meyers B.C., Chen X., Ma W.* 2014. Roles of Small RNAs in Soybean Defense against Phytophthora sojae Infection. The Plant J. 79: 928-940. 

10 Ma W. 2014. From Pathogen Recognition to plant immunity: BIK1 cROSses the divide. Cell Host & Microbe. 15: 253-254.  

11 Jiang S., Yao J., Ma K-W., Zhou H., Song J., He S.Y., Ma W.* 2013. Bacterial effector activates jasmonate signaling by directly targeting JAZ transcriptional repressors. PLoS Pathogens. 9(10): e1003715. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003715.  

12 Qiao, Y., Liu, L., Xiong, Q., Flores, C., Wong, J., Shi, J., Wang, X., Liu, X., Xiang, Q., Jiang, S., Zhang, F., Wang, Y., Judelson, H.S., Chen, X., Ma, W.* (2013) Oomycete Pathogens Encode RNA Silencing Suppressors. Nature Genetics. 45: 330-333.