Pathogens target chemicals at various locations within plant cells to cause potato blight, giving clues on breeding techniques that could reduce the risk of disease, scientists from the James Hutton Institute in Scotland, Huazhong Agricultural University, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences in China and Wageningen University in the Netherlands have found.

In new research published in the Journal of Experimental Botany, the authors found that oomycete micro-organisms such as the Phytophthora infestans pathogen causing potato blight appear to launch co-ordinated chemical attacks on various locations within plant cells, using proteins called effectors.

These effectors work in combination to suppress the many different strategies the plants use to defend themselves

“We examined 52 effectors and found they were mostly located in the cytoplasm, nucleus, or cell membrane but some were at the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, peroxisomes or microtubules, suggesting they function in diverse locations," said Dr Petra Boevink of the James Hutton Institute, lead author of the paper. Forty-five of those chemicals were found to help the pathogen colonise the leaves when present inside the plant cells. “Mixing effectors that are known to suppress different plant immune system pathways gave an additive boost to infection. Given that the pathogen produces many effectors this indicates that these effectors work in combination to suppress the many different strategies the plants use to defend themselves,” Boevnik added.

The findings constitute a milestone in efforts to help breeders develop disease-resistant varieties, according to the James Hutton Institute.

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