Nep1类似蛋白（NLPs）是广泛存在于多种植物病原物中的一个蛋白家族。虽然许多NLP蛋白对双子叶植物细胞具有致死毒性，但对单子叶植物没有毒性。已有研究表明NLP蛋白与病菌侵染过程密切相关，但人们对这类蛋白，尤其是非毒性NLP在致病过程中的作用了解很少。前期研究中我们发现：（1）稻瘟菌Nlp基因家族在不同菌株间高度保守；（2）这些Nlp基因在稻瘟菌侵染水稻时显著上调；（3）某些Nlp成员可以补偿其它成员的缺失；（4）逐步敲除Nlp基因可导致稻瘟菌致病力减弱。因此，我们推断NLP蛋白家族参与稻瘟菌致病过程，对稻瘟菌具有重要的生物学意义。本项目将以此为基础，全面研究NLP蛋白家族在稻瘟菌生长发育、侵染循环以及逆境响应等过程中的作用，并通过转录组和代谢组分析，结合与NLP蛋白互作分子的筛选与鉴定，深入解析该蛋白家族的生物学功能与作用的机理，为研究稻瘟病控制策略提供有益的参考。

Nep1-(necrosis- and ethylene-inducing protein 1) like proteins (NLPs) constitute a family of proteins widely distributed in many plant-associated microbes including bacteria, fungi and oomycetes. NLPs are noncytotoxic to monocotyledonous plants, although many of them cause necrosis on dicotyledons. It has been shown that NLPs are closely involved in establishment of infection and development of disease; however, little is known about the roles that these proteins and especially the noncytotoxic NLPs play during pathogenesis. Our initial investigation on rice blast fungus revealed that (1) all 4 members of the Nlp gene family are highly conserved among various field isolates; (2) transcript levels of these genes were significantly upregulated during infection of the rice plant; (3) individual members of the family may complement the loss-of-function of other members; and (4) knocking out each Nlp gene progressively led to the reduction of virulence of the pathogen. We therefore deduce that the NLP protein family is involved in pathogenesis of the blast disease and has an essential biological role in Magnaporthe oryzae. Based on these findings, we propose a broader investigation on this family of proteins in various fugal biological processes including growth and development, pathogenesis, and stress responses. By using transcriptomic and metabolomic assays combined with the efforts on searching for NLP-interacting molecules, we aim to reveal the mechanisms underlying the biological role of NLP protein family in the pathogen and to provide valuable information for development of novel strategy of disease control.