Dr. Axel Elling
Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Pathology. Ph.D. 2006, Iowa State University
Research
Plants are under constant attack by pathogens and have developed sophisticated defense responses to cope with these attacks. Plant pathogens have in turn developed strategies to evade or overcome plant defense responses. Nematodes are a very important group of plant parasites that cause yield losses to a large number of crops worldwide. While some nematode species have evolved a sedentary life style by initiating and carefully maintaining elaborate feeding sites inside their host plants, others migrate from host cell to host cell, each of which is in turn destroyed by the nematode.
We are studying the molecular interactions between nematodes and their host plants and molecular plant defense responses. This research uses a number of experimental approaches, including recombinant DNA techniques, protein-protein interaction assays, plant tissue culture, microscopy and functional genomics. Our long-term goal is to generate novel, environmentally friendly approaches to control plant-parasitic nematodes that are based on molecular strategies.
We are currently interested in the events that lead to successful plant parasitism of root-knot and root-lesion nematodes. To address this question, we are studying plant proteins that interact with nematode effectors, which the nematode secretes into infected host cells. Effectors are the molecular interface between the parasite and its host. Understanding the precise roles of plant and nematode genes that are involved in the infection process will allow us to alter the molecular interactions between parasitic nematodes and their hosts in order to develop novel resistance mechanisms.
Selected Publications
Humphreys-Pereira, D.A., Flores-Chaves, L., Gomez, M., Salazar, L., Gomez-Alpizar, L. and Elling, A.A. 2014. Meloidogyne lopezi n. sp. (Nematoda: Meloidogynidae), a new root-knot nematode associated with coffee (Coffea arabica L.) in Costa Rica, its diagnosis and phylogenetic relationship with other coffee-parasitising Meloidogyne species. Nematology (in press)
Dinh, P.T.Y, Knoblauch, M. and Elling, A.A. 2014. Nondestructive imaging of plant-parasitic nematode development and host response to nematode pathogenesis. Phytopathology (in press)
Humphreys-Pereira, D.A. and Elling, A.A. 2014. Morphological analysis of males and second-stage juveniles of Meloidogyne chitwoodi. Nematology 16: 149-162.
Elling, A.A. and Jones, J.T. 2014. Functional characterization of nematode effectors in plants. In: Plant-pathogen interactions: Methods and protocols, eds. Birch, P., Jones, J. and Bos, J.I.B., Methods in Molecular Biology (in press)
Elling, A.A. 2013. Major emerging problems with minor Meloidogyne species. Phytopathology 103: 1092-1102. (Cover article)
Kandel, S.L., Smiley, R.S., Garland-Campbell, K., Elling, A.A., Abatzoglou, J., Huggins, D., Rupp, R. and Paulitz, T.C. 2013. Relationship between climatic factors and distribution of Pratylenchus spp. in the dryland wheat-producing areas of eastern Washington. Plant Disease 97: 1448-1456.
Mitchum, M.G., Hussey, R.S., Baum, T.J., Wang, X., Elling, A.A., Wubben, M. and Davis, E.L. 2013. Nematode effector proteins: An emerging paradigm of parasitism. New Phytologist 199: 879-894.
Humphreys-Pereira, D.A. and Elling, A.A. 2013. Intraspecific variability and genetic structure in Meloidogyne chitwoodi from the USA. Nematology 15: 315-327. (Cover article)
He, G., Elling, A.A. and Deng, X.W. 2011. The epigenome and plant development. Annual Review of Plant Biology 62: 411-435.
Zhou, J., Wang, X., He, K., Charron, J.B., Elling, A.A. and Deng, X.W. 2010. Genome-wide profiling of histone H3 lysine 9 acetylation and dimethylation in Arabidopsis reveals correlation between multiple histone marks and gene expression. Plant Molecular Biology 72: 585-595.
Kong, Y., Elling, A.A., Chen, B. and Deng, X.W. 2010. Differential expression of microRNAs in maize inbred and hybrid lines during salt and drought stress. American Journal of Plant Sciences 1: 69-79.
He, G., Zhu, X., Elling, A.A., Chen, L., Wang, X., Guo, L., Liang, M., He, H., Zhang, H., Qi, Y., Chen, R. and Deng, X.W. 2010. Global epigenetic and transcriptional trends among two rice subspecies and their reciprocal hybrids. Plant Cell 22: 17-33.
Charron, J.B., He, H., Elling, A.A.and Deng, X.W. 2009. Dynamic landscapes of four histone modifications during deetiolation in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 21: 3732-3748.
Elling, A.A. and Deng, X.W. 2009. Next-generation sequencing reveals complex relationships between the epigenome and transcriptome in maize. Plant Signaling & Behavior 4: 760-763.
Wang, X., Elling, A.A., Li, X., Li, N., Peng, Z., He, G., Sun, H., Qi, Y., Liu, X.S. and Deng, X.W. 2009. Genome-wide and organ-specific landscapes of epigenetic modifications and their relationships to mRNA and small RNA transcriptomes in maize. Plant Cell 21: 1053-1069.
Elling, A.A., Mitreva, M., Gai, X., Martin, J., Recknor, J., Hussey, R.S., Davis, E.L., Nettleton, D., McCarter, J.P. and Baum, T.J. 2009. Sequence mining and transcript profiling to explore cyst nematode parasitism. BMC Genomics 10: 58. (Highly accessed)
Guo, L., Zhou, J., Elling, A.A., Charron, J.B. and Deng, X.W. 2008. Histone modifications and expression of light-regulated genes in Arabidopsis are cooperatively influenced by changing light conditions. Plant Physiology 147: 2070-2083.
Hewezi, T., Sindhu, A., Howe, P., Elling, A.A., Mitchum, M.G., Davis, E.L., Hussey, R.S. and Baum, T.J. 2008. A look through the stylet: Deciphering the mechanisms of nematode parasitism. In: Biology of Plant-Microbe Interactions, vol. 6, chapter 3: Multitrophic interactions, 32, IS-MPMI, St. Paul, MN.
Elling, A.A., Mitreva, M., Recknor, J., Gai, X., Martin, J., Maier, T.R., McDermott, J.P., Hewezi, T., Bird, D.M., Davis, E.L., Hussey, R.S., Nettleton, D., McCarter, J.P. and Baum, T.J. 2007. Divergent evolution of arrested development in the dauer stage of Caenorhabditis elegans and the infective stage of Heterodera glycines. Genome Biology 8: R211.
Elling, A.A., Davis, E.L., Hussey, R.S. and Baum T.J. 2007. Active uptake of Heterodera glycines parasitism proteins into the plant cell nucleus. International Journal for Parasitology 37: 1269-1279. (Cover article)
Mazarei, M., Elling, A.A., Maier, T.R., Puthoff, D.P. and Baum, T.J. 2007. GmEREBP1 is a transcription factor activating defense genes in soybean and Arabidopsis. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 20: 107-119.
Mitreva, M., Elling, A.A., Dante, M., Kloek, A.P., Kalyanaraman, A., Aluru, S., Clifton, S.W., McK. Bird, D.M., Baum, T.J. and McCarter, J.P. 2004. A survey of SL1-spliced transcripts from the root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans. Molecular Genetics and Genomics 272: 138-148.
S., Davis, E.L., Nettleton, D., McCarter, J.P. and Baum, T.J. (2007): Divergent evolution of arrested development in the dauer stage of Caenorhabditis elegans and the infective stage of Heterodera glycines. Genome Biology 8:R211.
Elling, A.A., Davis, E.L., Hussey, R.S. and Baum T.J. (2007): Active uptake of Heterodera glycines parasitism proteins into the plant cell nucleus. International Journal for Parasitology 37:1269-1279.
Mazarei, M., Elling, A.A., Maier, T.R., Puthoff, D.P. and Baum, T.J. (2007): GmEREBP1 is a transcription factor activating defense genes in soybean and Arabidopsis. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 20:107-119.
Mitreva, M., Elling, A.A., Dante, M., Kloek, A.P., Kalyanaraman, A., Aluru, S., Clifton, S.W., McK. Bird, D.M., Baum, T.J. and McCarter, J.P. (2004): A survey of SL1-spliced transcripts from the root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans. Molecular Genetics and Genomics 272:138-148.