Plenary speakers
Prof. Edel Pérez-López
Edel Pérez-López is an Associate Professor of Phytopathology at Universite Laval.
Short Bio: Dr. Edel Pérez-López is an Associate Professor of Phytopathology and Canada Research Chair in Insect Vector Invasions and Emerging Plant Diseases at Université Laval. He earned his BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Havana, Cuba, and his PhD from Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico. He then completed postdoctoral fellowships at Auburn University (USA) and the University of Saskatchewan (Canada). Since joining Université Laval in March 2020, Dr. Pérez-López has led the EdeLab, securing over $12M in independent research funding as principal investigator and publishing over 40 peer-reviewed papers focused on plant pathogens and insect vectors. His lab places a strong emphasis on effector biology as a strategy for developing durable crop resistance and investigates how climate change is influencing the spread and incidence of emerging plant diseases and their insect vectors.
Website: https://www.edelabcriv.ca/home
Talk title: Linking ANK effectors to virulence evolution of the clubroot pathogen
Abstract: Plasmodiophora brassicae, the causal agent of clubroot disease, is a soil-borne obligate biotroph that threatens canola production worldwide, with resting spores capable of surviving in soil for decades. Deployment of clubroot-resistant (CR) canola cultivars has been the most effective management strategy, but it has also imposed strong selective pressure, driving the emergence of new virulent isolates in Canada. Effector proteins are central to these evolutionary arms races yet remain poorly characterized in this pathosystem. To address this, we assembled the first telomere-to-telomere reference genome of P. brassicae (20 chromosomes, 10,521 genes, 806 predicted effectors) and performed population genomics across 142 isolates from 20 countries. We observed three major genetic clusters, with Canadian-dominated clusters exhibiting higher virulence. Pangenome analysis of 45 isolates revealed a dynamic ~250 kb hotspot containing five ankyrin-repeat (ANK) effectors, including ANK2, which carried multiple intragenic deletions and flanking structural variants in highly virulent isolates. Using AlphaFold2 structural predictions, we discovered that ANK effectors represent a significantly expanded family in gall-forming plasmodiophorids and are highly expressed during infection. Interaction screens identified ANK1 and ANK2 targets in Arabidopsis, all host proteins associated with stress sensing and cell expansion. BiFC assays confirmed their localization at both the plasma membrane and the nucleus, suggesting that ANK effectors interfere with host stress-signaling networks in multiple cellular compartments. Altogether, our findings link population-genomic signatures, structural variation, and functional evidence, revealing ANK effectors as key players in virulence evolution and disease establishment.
Prof. Eliana Gonzales-Vigil
Eliana Gonzales-Vigil is an Associate Professor studying plant metabolite synthesis and its role in plant defense responses.
Short bio:Dr. Eliana Gonzales-Vigil is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto in Scarborough. Originally from Peru, she obtained her BSc in Biology at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina. A Fulbright scholarship took her to the Plant Research Laboratories at Michigan State University to pursue a PhD working on tomato-insect interactions. She then complemented her training with a postdoc investigating specialized metabolites produced by wild tomatoes. In 2012, she moved to the University of British Columbia, where she started working on the cuticular waxes of Populus trichocarpa. At UTSC she is combining all these experiences to understand the chemical language of plant specialized metabolites.
Website: https://utsc.utoronto.ca/labs/gonzalesvigil/
Talk title: The reactive cuticle: Alkene oxidation and aldehyde release in poplar leaves.
Abstract: Plant cuticles serve as frontline defences, shielding internal tissues from abiotic and biotic stresses. Although their protective role is well-established, cuticles are traditionally viewed as non-reactive physical barriers, primarily composed of a mixture of very-long chain lipids. Our lab has been investigating the accumulation of monounsaturated hydrocarbons (cis-9 alkenes) on the cuticular wax of Populus (poplar), with the ultimate goal of understanding their functional role for the plant. Unlike other cuticular waxes, alkenes exhibit a distinctive pattern of accumulation; new leaves contain trace levels that increase as the leaves expand. Notably, the trend reverses in more mature leaves, where a decline in very-long chain alkenes coincides with an increase in shorter-chain aldehydes. The initial rise in alkenes is strongly correlated with the expression of a 3-ketoacyl CoA synthase, PtKCS1, a gene showing hallmarks of recent specialization. In contrast, the subsequent decline in alkenes is attributed to spontaneous oxidation into aldehydes upon exposure to air and light. Interestingly, nonanal is one of the volatile aldehydes released and is a well-studied semiochemical with key roles in plant and insect communication. Moreover, the production of shorter aliphatics from long-chain cuticular waxes can be extended to other components, such as the generation of caprolactones from diketones in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). These observations uncover a new mechanism for the generation of plant volatiles that are structurally encoded within cuticular waxes.
