Events

EPS Flying Seminar “Prof. Gitta Coaker”

Date: Tuesday 6 February 2024
Time: 14:00 – 15:00
Location: W0.1
More information: Dr. Vivianne Vleeshouwers

Title: Investigating plant responses to bacterial infection with spatial and cellular resolution

Plants can be infected by all pathogen classes. My research program investigates mechanisms controlling plant immune perception and pathogen virulence. First, I will focus on our work investigating plant responses to bacterial infection at single-cell resolution. Using a combination of single-cell RNA sequencing technology and spatial profiling, we analyzed individual leaf cells upon infection with the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. We identified pathogen responsive cell clusters programmed for differential responses in distinct areas revealing how plants spatially respond to bacterial pathogens within a leaf during compatible and incompatible interactions. Next, I will present the evolutionary dynamics of proteinaceous bacterial features (MAMPs) that can be perceived by plant surface localized immune receptors. We characterized the evolutionary trajectories of five MAMPs across 4,228 plant-associated bacterial genomes and the effect of copy number and sequence variation on plant immune outcomes. We uncovered a new mechanism for immune evasion, intrabacterial antagonism, where a non-immunogenic MAMP can block perception of immunogenic forms within a single genome.

Gitta Coaker – Biography

Professor Gitta Coaker is the John and Joan Fiddyment Endowed Chair in Agriculture at the University of California, Davis. She joined the faculty at the University of California, Davis in 2007. Dr. Coaker’s research program focuses on the interaction between bacterial pathogens and plants. Her work focuses on understanding kinase-mediated immune signaling and pathogen effector targets in both model and crop plants. Recent research investigates vascular pathogens, including vector-borne disease associated with Liberibacter species in citrus, tomato, and potato. She also works on understanding the interaction between the Gram-positive vascular pathogen Clavibacter and its hosts. She was awarded the William H. Krauss Award for Research Excellence (2004), NSF Career Award (2011), Chancellor’s Fellow for Research Excellence (2013), Graduate Student Mentoring Award at the University of California, Davis (2020), and the Noel T. Keen Award for research excellence in Molecular Plant Pathology (2022).