Successful plant pathogens suppress or evade plant immune responses with the aid of secreted effectors, which either reside in the apoplastic space or are translocated into plant cells to interfere with various biological processes. Effectors function through a diversity of mechanisms, e.g., modification of the pathogen surfaces, inactivation of plant defense molecules, and reprogramming host physiology or metabolism, to promote virulence and colonization. Some plant pathogens can also interfere with plant hormone signaling pathways by producing hormone mimics to disrupt plant defense responses.

Common corn smut is caused by the basidiomycete fungus Ustilago maydis, which is a model organism to study biotrophy. This fungal pathogen has a rather compact genome (~20 M) encoding hundreds of secreted effector proteins, whose molecular functions remain largely unclear. In particular, how U. maydis induces tumor-like structures in its host still remains puzzling.

We aim to unveil the mysteries behind smut fungi and their hosts, mainly through the following strategies:

1. Functionally characterization of the secreted effector proteins from smut fungi

2. Investigation of the responses and resistance of plants combatting smut fungi with multi-omics

3. Exploration of the tripartite interactions between plants, smut fungi, and microbiota (in collaboration with Prof. Kenichi Tsuda)