Understanding structural dynamics of parasitic plant receptors

Diwakar Shukla, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Striga is a parasite plant which is a serious agricultural pest affecting crops such as sorghum, maize (corn), rice, millet and cowpea among other crops. The growth of the parasitic plant is triggered through small molecules called Strigolactones (SLs) which are also plant hormones, necessary in plants for branch regulation and symbiotic relationship with a soil fungi for carbon and nitrogen exchange. In addition, the parasitic plant's receptor proteins (ShHTLs) have evolved to sense SLs in much lower affinities as compared to host plant proteins. The first step in developing a mechanism to stop the growth of parasite is to understand the parasite plant and the host plant proteins at the molecular level. In this research project, we propose to study the behavior of the parasitic proteins in the presence and absence of the activating ligand molecule, and the conformational changes the protein undergoes upon transition from inactive to active state. Further, to understand the evolution of the protein in the host plant to gain a different function altogether in the parasite plant, we will study the behavior of the ancestor proteins and draw conclusions about the origin of this new function of the protein upon sensing SLs.