Cellular mode of action of chitosan oligomers inducing plant disease resistance

Ekaterina Gubaeva (the second generation MCGS doctoral candidate working in the group of Prof. Moerschbacher) aims at understanding the cellular mode of action of chitosan oligomers inducing resistance reactions in plant cells. Her first targets are the receptors involved in chitosan recognition in plant cells. She has initiated collaboration with Prof. Shibuya from Tokyo, Japan, the world leading expert in chitin receptors in plants, by inviting him for the MCGS Network Symposium held in Münster in autumn 2011. In spring 2012, she visited the Shibuya lab to learn how to measure a chitin- or chitosan-induced oxidative burst in Arabidopsis seedlings. Together with Rebecca Melcher, Ekaterina then adapted this assay in our lab in Münster to a microtitre plate format. Ekaterina is currently on maternal leave, and upon return to the lab, she will use this bioassay to screen for chitosan receptors in Arabidopsis (in collaboration with Prof. Niehaus from Bielefeld University) and rice (continuing the collaboration with Prof. Shibuya). Finally, she plans to perform transcriptomic studies on chitosan treated Arabidopsis seedlings in collaboration with the group of Prof. Appa Rao, in parallel to work planned by Anne Vortkamp and Rebecca Melcher..

Last update 06.05.2013

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