PhD Oral Defence: The role of vitamin B6 as an antioxidant during the abiotic and biotic interactions of the fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia solani
PhD Oral Defence of Jamil Samsatly, Plant Science
The necrotrophic fungus Rhizoctonia solani is an economically devastating plant pathogen with a wide host range. Vitamin B6 (VB6) has been shown to act as an antioxidant and play a role in stress responses. Using genome walking, the de novo biosynthetic pathway genes; RsolPDX1 and RsolPDX2 and the salvage biosynthetic pathway gene, RsolPLR were sequenced and were found to be differentially regulated when subjected to reactive oxygen species (ROS) inducers. Evidence on the functionality of R. solani vitamin B6 biosynthetic pathway genes; RsolPDX1 and RsolPDX2 was done using the yeast expression system. This study is the first coexpression analysis of genes encoding vitamin B6, CAT and GST in plant and fungal tissues of three pathosystems during interaction of different AG groups of R. solani with their respective hosts.