Science discovers new enzymes that infect plants, paving the way for potential disease prevention

The new study, published in the journal Science, describes an enzyme found in a microorganism called Phytophthora infestans

An international research team led by biologists and chemists at York University has discovered a new class of enzymes that can attack pectin, called LPMOs

As we all know, potato late blight is a devastating plant disease.

The identification of this new gene may open up new ways to protect crops from such important pathogens

The report’s lead author, Dr.

Professor Simon McQueen-Mason, also from CNAP, commented that this work is "a biologist and chemist at York University, a plant pathologist at the James Hutton Institute, a genomicist at CNRS, and a chemist at York University.

This research is part of the Phytophthora plant new enzyme virulence factor project, which will last from 2021 to 2025, and received £1 million from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council under the United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding

Journal Reference :

1. Federico Sabbadin, Saioa Urresti, Bernard Henrissat, Anna O.