Ricerc@Sapienza

The term Anthropocene was coined in the 80s of last century to indicate the current geological era. This stands out from those that preceded it for the decisive impact of man on the climate and the environment. In order to understand how it is possible to direct a sustainable development of the planet, it is worth considering that for at least twenty years there has been a considerable increase in the world population and that this tends to concentrate, with increasing percentages, in urban areas.

Plants mount defense responses during pathogen attacks, and robust host defense suppression by pathogen effector proteins is essential for infection success. 4E02 is an effector of the sugar beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii. Arabidopsis thaliana lines expressing the effector coding sequence showed altered expression levels of defense response genes as well as higher susceptibility to both the biotroph H. schachtii and the necrotroph Botrytis cinerea, indicating a potential suppression of defenses by 4E02. Yeast two-hybrid analyses showed that 4E02 targets A.