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POSTERS: Molecular/Cellular Plant‐Microbe Interactions II

P-359 - Profiling Host-Pathogen Signaling During Fusarium Head Blight Disease of Barley Using Integrative Multi-Omics

Tuesday, August 5, 2025
10:15 AM - 11:00 AM HST
Location: Exhibit Hall 3

    Presenting Author(s)

  • LS

    Lovepreet Singh, PhD

    University of Minnesota
    Saint Paul, MN, USA

    • Author(s)

  • YH

    Yadong Huang

    University of Minnesota
    Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

  • GB

    Gerit Bethke

    University of Minnesota
    Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

  • ES

    Erin Schwister

    USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Laboratory
    Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

  • GM

    Gary J. Muehlbauer

    Professor
    University of Minnesota
    Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

  • JE

    J.Mitch Elmore, n/a

    Research Molecular Geneticist
    USDA Cereal Disease Lab
    Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

Abstract Text: Plant-pathogen interactions are shaped by complex, multi-level signaling networks that ultimately define disease outcomes. By reconstructing the topology of these networks, we can begin to understand how signals are propagated and predict the genes that have the largest influence on host resistance. To this end, we are using integrative multi-omics coupled with network biology to dissect the molecular basis for Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) disease of barley. We performed time-course infection experiments in barley spikes and acquired quantitative transcriptome and proteome data during the disease progression. This multi-omics profiling will reveal differentially regulated transcripts, proteins, and phosphorylated peptides at specific stages of infection. Gene regulatory networks will be constructed to predict the transcription factors that regulate modules of differentially expressed transcripts and phospho-signaling networks will be used to identify activated kinases and predict their phosphorylated targets. Proteins with high centrality in the reconstructed networks are likely to have greater impacts on disease outcomes and will be prioritized for functional validation, especially susceptibility factors which could be used as gene editing targets to engineer FHB disease resistance. The data acquisition is underway, and results will be presented in the meeting. This dual-organism, multi-omics strategy represents a powerful approach to predict and test the genes that regulate FHB and serves as a foundation for understanding and engineering disease resistance in cereal crops