Fungal pathogens of cereal crops: Proteomic insights into fungal pathogenesis, host defense, and resistance
B. Liu, R. Stevens-Green, Danisha Johal, Robert L. Buchanan, Jennifer Geddes‐McAlister
Abstract
Fungal infections of cereal crops pose a significant risk to global food security through reduced grain production and quality, as well as contamination of animal feed and human products for consumption. To combat fungal disease, we need to understand how the pathogen adapts and survives within the hostile environment of the host and how the host's defense response can be modulated for protection from disease. Such investigations offer insight into fungal pathogenesis, host immunity, the development of resistance, and mechanisms of action for currently-used control strategies. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics provides a technologically-advanced platform to define differences among fungal pathogens and their hosts at the protein level, supporting the discovery of proteins critical for disease, and uncovering novel host responses driving susceptibly or resistance of the host. In this Review, we explore the role of mass spectrometry-based proteomics in defining the intricate relationship between a pathogen and host during fungal disease of cereal crops with a focus on recent discoveries derived from the globally-devastating diseases of Fusarium head blight, Rice blast, and Powdery mildew. We highlight advances made for each of these diseases and discuss opportunities to extrapolate findings to further our fight against fungal pathogens on a global scale.