Congratulations to the prize winners from PPATH25!
The J Colhoun Poster Prize was won by Athira Menon from the University of Oxford for her poster “RNA-binding proteins in plant immunity”. More about the prize (and previous winners) can be found here.
The PH Gregory Prize for best talk was awarded to Vanja Milenkovic from the University of Birmingham for her presentation “Drought & disease in Acute Oak Decline”. More about the prize (and previous winners) can be found here.
All of their abstracts can be read below:
Understanding the role of RNA-binding proteins in plant immunity during Pseudomonas syringae infection
Athira Menon1, Marcel Bach-Pages1, Brett Wadley1, Sarah Skinner1, Honglin Chen2, Farnusch Kaschani3, Markus Kaiser3, Alfredo Castello2, Renier A L vander Hoorn1, Gail M Preston1
1University of Oxford, UK; 2 University of Glasgow, UK; 3 University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
RNA binding proteins (RBPs) are proteins that interact with RNA, modulate gene expression, and play a role in the growth, development and defence responses of plants. Previous work using a technique known as plant RNA interactome capture (ptRIC) has shown that RBPs show differential RNA binding activity upon treatment with the immune elicitor flg22. Pathogens use multiple strategies to evade the plant’s immune system and establish infection including the use of effectors and other small molecules to directly or indirectly modulate RBP activity. We have used ptRIC to profile changes in the leaf RBPome of Arabidopsis thaliana during Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (PsPto) infection. 105 RBPs were identified that showed differential RNA binding activity upon infection, which suggests their potential involvement in plant immunity or susceptibility. Infection assays were used to determine whether mutant lines of selected candidates showed altered resistance to PsPto infection. The characterisation of RBPs involved in plant immunity would help develop crops in the future that are more resistant to pathogens by exploiting RBPs and associated networks.
When drought meets disease: a metabolic key to Acute Oak Decline
Vanja Milenkovic1, Diana Vinchira-Villarraga1, Robert Jackson1, Mojgan Rabiey1,2
1School of Biosciences and BIFOR, University of Birmingham; 2School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick
Acute Oak Decline (AOD) is an emerging disease complex linked to environmental stressors, especially drought [1]. In this study, we investigated the impact of drought on the progression of AOD in oak saplings inoculated with AOD-associated bacteria. In a controlled greenhouse experiment, saplings were exposed to drought conditions and inoculated with AOD-associated bacterial pathogens. Over three months, stem samples were collected from inoculation sites and analysed using untargeted metabolomic profiling via LC-MS/MS to identify metabolic changes. Saplings under combined drought and biotic stress exhibited a distinct profile compared to single stressors. Of 290 detected metabolites, 62 and 99 were upregulated in the dual-stress condition compared to infection-only and drought-only groups, respectively, while 41 and 21 were downregulated. Notably, one metabolite, putatively annotated as quinic acid, a precursor for lignin and defence-related polyphenols, was significantly upregulated only under combined stress, with levels far exceeding those in single-stress treatments. To investigate its role, quinic acid was tested against three AOD-associated bacterial species. It inhibited the growth of all three, with particularly strong inhibition against Brenneria goodwinii and Rahnella victoriana, while Gibbsiella quercinecans was inhibited only at the highest tested concentration. Although quinic acid exhibited antimicrobial properties, disease symptoms still developed, implying its production may not fully prevent pathogen establishment. Alternatively, its accumulation may reflect broader drought-induced processes, such as lignin biosynthesis, rather than direct antimicrobial defence. Quinic acid thus emerges as a potential biomarker for AOD risk under drought conditions, reflecting the complex interplay between abiotic and biotic stresses in oak health. This study is one of the first to experimentally demonstrate drought as a predisposing factor in AOD development, providing novel insights with implications for forest disease monitoring and management under climate change scenarios.
1. Gosling, R.J., et al., Oak Declines: Reviewing the Evidence for Causes, Management Implications and Research Gaps. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 2024. 5(4).
