Exploring a Circadian Clock in the Oomycete, Phytophthora parasitica

Atkinson, Rebecca E. (2025) Exploring a Circadian Clock in the Oomycete, Phytophthora parasitica. Masters thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Phytophthora parasitica is an Oomycete plant pathogen that infects a wide range of plants with, yet questions still remain regarding its biology. One question yet to be investigated is whether or not Oomycetes has a circadian clock. A circadian clock is an essential component of many organisms, involved in the regulation of processes to a 24-hour cycle. Due to its lifecycle of infecting plants, which also contain a clock, we hypothesise that the pathogen might possess such a system, perhaps to coordinate infection with its host’s biology or environmental fluctuations. To explore this question, we investigated the phenomena of growth ring production in the mycelia of P. parasitica through image analysis, subjecting different P. parasitica strains to periods of entrainment and differing T-cycle lengths. We also conducted an in-silico investigation of PAS domain-containing proteins, using HMMSCAN, to identify candidates for components of a clock system. We found that P. parasitica exhibits some examples of entrainment, but this is only in select samples. However, it is able to successfully adjust to a longer T-cycle length. This study provides novel insights into morphology patterning in P. parasitica and the grounding for further study into a circadian clock in oomycetes, essential for developing resistance strategies to the pathogen.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	07 Jul 2025 11:30
Last Modified:	07 Jul 2025 11:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/99850
DOI:

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