description
- Project Summary (Maximum 4000 characters including spaces and returns): The project stems from research on the plant cell wall polysaccharide callose, which accumulates around intercellular pores named plasmodesmata to restrict the transport of signalling molecules, proteins, RNAs and the spreading of viruses and other pathogens. We recently identified new molecular probes and developed technologies to test the chemical and physico-mechanical properties of plant beta glucans. This project will transform understanding of the role of callose, and other beta-1,3 glucans, in root development and in the interaction with soil microbes. The results will inform novel strategies to modify the development and environmental resilience of agricultural crops. This exciting project is cross-disciplinary applying molecular biology and genetics to modify polysaccharide accumulation and using cell and structural biology to reveal changes in cell wall structures and cell development. Structural data and physical properties will be used to reveal how cell mechanobiology determines cell-to-cell communication. Objectives Tomato and wheat are used to explore the properties of beta-1,3 glucans and their influence in the mechanisms regulating root development and interaction with symbiotic fungi. Specific objectives are to determine: 1. changes in cell wall structures triggered by the accumulation of beta-1,3 glucans. 2. beta-1,3 glucans effects in root growth and symbiotic infection. 3. beta-1,3 glucans effects in plasmodesmata and intercellular signalling. Experimental Approach: Transgenic mutant lines as well as isolated callose-enriched extracts will be obtained. Changes in cell wall structural-composition will be determined using mass spectrometry, electron-microscopy and immuno- assays. The effects on root growth and fungi colonization will be phenotypically analyzed and cell-to-cell communication tested using photoactivable reporters.