This project is led by the PhD candidate Leroy van der Meer. He investigates the genetic and molecular bases of the growth-immunity trade-offs in lettuce. Lettuce cultivation is threatened by diseases, particularly downy mildew caused by the obligate biotrophic oomycete Bremia lactucae. The key phytohormone associated with resistance against biotrophic pathogens is salicylic acid (SA). The first part of the project builds on the findings of the LettuceKnow consortium, which identified candidate transcription factors central to the SA response. He validates these findings using biomolecular techniques and disease assays, providing insight into how these key TFs regulate lettuce response to pathogens and growth. Simultaneously, he aims to map the SA response in lettuce more broadly through transcriptomics, large-scale phenomics, and AI-assisted network building. This part of the work follows up on the growth-defense phenomics and GWAS project led by Bart Schimmel in LettuceKnow. Together, his project should provide a broad network-based overview of how lettuce interprets the SA response and which genes are key regulators in this process. The ultimate goal is to determine where the previously identified TFs fit into this model and to show, through both computational and experimental approaches, their functions.
Project-associated gallery
Defense and Recovery of Plants 