Plant scientists turn on athlete's foot

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Plant scientists turn on athlete's foot

LabnewsOnline - London,UK*

http://www.labnews.co.uk/laboratory_article.php/3352/2/plant-

scientists-turn-on-athletes-foot

A green-fingered approach is being taken by scientists to help the

millions of people who suffer the discomfort of itchy, sore feet.

Plant scientists from the University of Oxford are looking for

molecular targets for common fungal conditions such as athlete's

foot and ringworm.

Gurr, Professor of Molecular Plant Pathology at Oxford,

said: " We have learned much about the ways that fungi invade plants

during the past few years. By contrast, however, we know very little

about the life-style and invasion habits of the athlete's foot

fungus. It occurred to me that whatever we learnt in plants could be

applied to medicine. This is an exciting part of our work which we

hope will result in effective treatments for this uncomfortable

human condition. "

The organisms responsible for causing Athlete's Foot are

Dermatophytes, literally meaning `skin plants'. Dermatophyte fungi

thrive in warm moist conditions and grow on the surface of the skin

and then invade the superficial layers of the skin. Scientists from

the University of Oxford are looking at what controls their growth

and adhesion to the skin.

While much of her team's work focuses on rice blast - a fungus

responsible for the loss of thousands of tonnes of rice across the

world - some of the knowledge gained and techniques developed have

proved transferable between this fungi and that responsible for

athlete's foot.

Using a technique called Expressed Sequence Tags, the researchers

are identifying the genes implicated in building fungal cell walls,

a crucial part of the fungi which enables it to grow and spread in

both plants and humans. Professor Gurr's team are exploring how the

expression of particular genes correlates with the efficacy of

different antifungal drugs. Their aim is to identify targets for

which drug designers can develop new medicines that can be applied

to the skin to prevent fungal infection.

Professor Nigel Brown, BBSRC director of science and technology,

said: " Novel research on plant pathogens not only offers the

potential for improved crop yields and food security but, as this

project shows, may have direct applications to human health as well. "