New Grant Advances Plant Protection

By Scout Nelson

A major grant from the National Science Foundation is supporting innovative plant pathology research at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. The project focuses on understanding fungal effectors, which are proteins that weaken plant defenses and allow disease to spread.

The research is supported by a grant totaling seven hundred sixty-nine thousand seven hundred ninety-two dollars. It builds earlier work that explored how fungal pathogens use effectors to infect crops. These proteins use different methods to suppress plant immune systems and change plant functions.

The current project studies Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungus that causes rice blast disease. This disease destroys up to thirty percent of global rice production each year. Rice blast “is the most serious disease of cultivated rice, with enough rice destroyed by the fungus each year to feed 50 million people,” said Richard Wilson.

Although the work centers on rice, the findings apply to many other crops. The same fungus can infect wheat, rye barley, and turfgrasses. Understanding how effectors work can help scientists protect a wide range of plants that are important to food systems.

Effectors are difficult to study because they do not share common genetic patterns. Their genes often change, move, or disappear, making it hard to identify. “They have no features to tell us what they might do, or where they might go, or whether they’re going to go into the plant,” Wilson said. “Effectors are extremely important to find, but difficult to find.”

To address this challenge, the research team uses advanced genetic analysis and modeling tools. Their goals include predicting which fungal proteins act as effectors, learning how pathogens control effector release, and identifying how effectors enter plant cells.

Computer models suggest the fungus may have around one thousand eight hundred possible effector genes, but only a few are currently known. “We think we can accelerate that tenfold going forward,” Wilson said. “It should be a very fast way to identify new effectors and get the pipeline moving.”

This research could lead to stronger crop resistance, better plant breeding tools, and improved disease control methods. The project also provides valuable learning opportunities for students and benefits from advanced university research facilities. “We have everything we need here,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it.”

Photo Credit: pexels-karolina-grabowska