DIMBA · Disease and immunity in marine brown algae
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2008-09-01 → 2011-08-31
- EU contribution
- €45,000
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-ERG
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Results in brief
Disease and immunity in marine brown algae
Project context and objectives Do algae ever get sick, and why does it matter? Brown algae make up over 70% of the biomass of our rocky seashores. As the seaweed aquaculture industry grows exponentially worldwide, their economic importance is increasing rapidly. In the United Kingdom and other Western countries, algae are being considered as a potential sustainable biofuel source. The development of experimental aquaculture facilities is currently attracting considerable investment in the context of the ongoing transition towards a low carbon economy. Like any other living organism, brown algae are plagued by diseases caused by fungi, bacteria or viruses. Among them, Eurychasma dicksonii - the parasite that I am studying - is very common and widespread. However, little is known about its biology, or indeed the biology of similar algal pathogens. This lack of information hampers our capacity to comprehend the impact of diseases in natural algal populations and, more broadly, on the functioning of marine ecosystems. Additionally, the interplay between natural populations, crops and their pathogens, which are central to the design of management policies concerning any agricultural production, remain entirely unknown for marine seaweeds. For these reasons, I have developed a laboratory model of Eurychasma and the filamentous brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus in order to address all these questions. Work performed Pathogenicity and immunity, the yin and yang of disease I have been applying cutting-edge molecular techniques to understand how algae defend themselves against infection, and to identify the infection strategies of its pathogen, Eurychasma. During this project, I have been able to demonstrate that brown algae resort to local cell death in order to contain infection. Specific markers of these responses have been identified and will be useful to further dissect the exact steps of this process at the molecular level. Main results Eurychasma genes potentially involved in the infection process have been identified and their functional characterisation has been initiated. Finally, unique biological material has been collected to integrate our data on host specificity with other environmental parameters. In particular, a transcriptomic approach has been initiated in order to investigate the polymorphism of Eurychasma pathogenicity effectors, and to assess the existence of host-pathogen co-evolutionary trends. In the future, this new knowledge will be invaluable to address ecologically relevant questions from a position of strength and novelty. Project website: http://www.smi.ac.uk/claire-gachon
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The first-ever genome project on a seaweed (Ectocarpus siliculosus) presents an unprecedented opportunity to study an algal host-pathogen interaction with state-of-the art molecular approaches. This model has the strength of being both of environmental and fundamental relevance, enabling issues to be addressed ranging from the impact of diseases in marine ecosystems to the evolution of pathogenicity among protists. As a Marie Curie IEF Fellow, I have been setting up a laboratory-controlled pathosystem involving the oomycete pathogen Eurychasma dicksonii and developed robust protocols on this model. My results demonstrate, for the first time in brown algae, the existence of a genetically-determined immunity, most probably mediated by programmed cell death and conserved across the whole phylum. The aim of this proposal is to build on my current work and support the following long term research objectives: 1) Investigating complementary aspects of the defence mechanisms of brown algae: a) programmed cell death as a component of Ectocarpus innate immunity; b) metabolite profiling of algae suceptible or resistant to infection, with the potential of identifying new bioactive (antifungal) compounds 2) Deciphering some infection mechanisms of Eurychasma, through a cDNA-based gene discovery approach. As Eurychasma is the most basal oomycete known so far, this undertaking will give unprecedented insights into the evolution of infection strategies within this lineage, and more generally among protists. 3) Looking for molecular signatures of host-pathogen coevolution in the field, as a contribution to the understanding epidemic impact on algal populations and coastal ecosystems. During the course of this work, a proactive approach will be used towards the identification of bioactive natural compounds or conserved drug targets, potentially resulting in spin-off findings applicable to the development of improved strategies to combat disease in agronomy and medicine.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION FOR MARINESCIENCE LBG · Dunbeg ObanCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union