International projects
MAP kinase cascades controlling virulence in fungi: from signals to pathogenicity response
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Filamentous fungi make a devastating impact on agriculture and human health. European agrochemical and medical drug discovery companies face a pressing need for safer and more effective products. The major bottleneck in the development of better antifungal s is the discovery of novel cellular targets. SIGNALPATH is a state-of-te-art post-genome project that used highly sophisticated and integrated genetic, genomic, and bioinformatic tools to sort through the large quantities of information available in genome databases, with the aim of elucidating complex biological pathways and pinpointing potential antifungal targets.Our goal is to identify and validate fungal genes and proteins that play a causative role in disease and can be targeted for inhibition through the intervention of small molecules or antibodies. SIGNALPATH will focus on a set of conserved cellular signalling modules called mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades, which play pivotal roles during fungal infection.A panel of multi-facete d approaches will be used to elucidate three key nodal points of fungal MAPK cascades whose role in disease is currently unknown:[1] the signal inputs that activate the pathway,[2] the upstream pathway receptors and[3] the downstream effectors.To fill the existing knowledge gap, SIGNALPATH reaches across the boundaries of traditionally separated fields such as plant pathology, medical mycology, biochemistry, cell cycle research and bioinformatics to gather a team of leading expert groups with a unique s kill-set in fungal biology, genetics and comparative genomics. The network integrated two world-class companies, Bayer CropScience, a global key player in plant protection and Novozymes, the world leader in microbial enzyme solutions. This dynamic interactive platform provides the scenario for training 6 ESRs and 3 ERs in a set of state-of-the-art skills encompassing fungal pathogenesis, cell signalling and antifungal discovery.
