Tijmen van Butselaar

Plants have evolved an elaborate immune system to combat microbial pathogens. Resistance to biotrophic pathogens, which thrive on living host tissue, is predominantly mediated by the phytohormone salicylic acid (SA). Although SA stimulates immunity, it actively suppresses growth. This growth-immunity tradeoff exerts itself in SA-accumulating mutants, like the dmr6 dlo1 double mutant. Arabidopsis plants mutated in DMR6 and DLO1, which encode 2-oxoglutarate iron-dependent SA-oxygenases, are hyperresistant to biotrophs but show a strong growth reduction. I focus on the growth inhibition displayed in these dmr6/dlo1 mutants, and am pursuing regulatory mechanisms that affect growth downstream of immunity.