Sapna

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91-9873107042

IIT Delhi, Imdia

Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

Institut für Agrar- und Ernährungswissenschaften, Lehrstuhl für Phytopathologie und Pflanzenschutz, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany

Title: Role of galactose containing cell wall polymers in growth and pathogenicity of the maize anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum graminicola

Colletotrichum graminicola is a filamentous fungus well known for causing anthracnose in maize. However, in recent years, its infection strategy has attracted considerable attention of the plant pathologists around the world. C. graminicola employs a pressure-driven penetration strategy along with a two-stage hemibiotrophic infection to invade host plants, presenting a unique opportunity for comparative analyses of plant-associated lifestyles within a single species. The fungal cell walls are composed of glucans, chitin, mannans and/or galactomannans, and glycoproteins. A delicate regulation between cell wall polymers of a fungal pathogen is considered to be of utmost importance for the formation of infection hyphae of appropriate rigidity In this study, we proposes to study the role of galactan-containing polymers on the cell wall rigidity of appressoria and in-plante formed pathogenic hyphae of C. graminicola. Although, the function of major cell wall polymers, β-1,3-glucan and chitin in the pathogenicity of C. graminicola have been previously investigated, the role of other cell wall polymers have remained largely unexplored. In this regard, this was first study to investigate the activity of galactan-containing polymers on the pathogenicity of C. graminicola. Studying the molecular mechanisms underlying the phenotypes observed in galactan-deficient mutants provided valuable information to improve our understanding of the life cycle of hemibiotropic fungus in general, and C. graminicola in particular.

Project Associate