Verticillium longisporum is a soilborn pathogen with agricultural relevance which colonizes several species of Brassicaceae. The physiological changes and defence reactions that occur within the plant after infection with this fungal species are largely unknown. Since the fungus is located in the xylem the main effects are expected in the extracellular compartment of the plant. Therefore the first step of this study was to compare the extracellular proteome of infected and control Brassica napus and Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Most of the proteins affected by Verticillium longisporum were identified. The aim of the current project is to investigate the functions of the candidate proteins with regard to their role in defence against or signalling the presence of Verticillium longisporum. Arabidopsis thaliana will be used to do “loss of function” and “gain of function” analyses by testing susceptibility of knock out and overexpressing lines. Furthermore anatomical and biochemical studies are planned since some of the candidate proteins are suggested to play a role in cell wall modifications.

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