Molecular, genetic, and biochemical characterization of oleate-regulated defense gene expression in plants

The focus of our laboratories is to decipher the role(s) of fatty acid (FA)/Iipid signals in plant defense. In particular, our laboratories are interested in elucidating the oleic acid (18: 1)-mediated regulation of plant defense signaling. The previous award (MCB-0421914) enabled us to establish a role for 18:1 in defense signaling, and identify components mediating R gene induction under low 18:1 conditions. Furthermore, others and we showed that this pathway is conserved in diverse plants including soybean and rice. Unexpectedly findings from this project also amended a previously accepted misconception about the role of EDS1 in resistance (R)-gene mediated signaling (56a) and showed that the plant cuticle is an important and active participant in the induction of systemic immunity (60). This proposal, in its first renewal phase, focuses on a) how binding of 18:1 to proteins (such as AtNOA1 and EDS1) mediates the activation of resistance signaling and b) identifying signaling components that mediate resistance downstream of 18:1 levels.