Manuscript on tomato interactor proteins and their binding domains including the effect of S-gene knock-down in tomatoes

To identify targets of P1 and D1, we will perform pull down on tomato protein extracts in collaboration with Geert de Jaeger (VIB, Belgium). Additionally, recombinant protein will be generated of P1 and D1 fused to a STREP-tag. After isolation, the proteins will be bound to anti-STREP Sepharose beads and incubated with tomato phloem exudates from control and whitefly-infested plants. The bound proteins will be subjected to mass-spectrometry for the identification of interactors. Interactors will be confirmed using yeast-2-hybrid (Y2H), transient bimolecular fluorescence (BiFC) assays and co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP). We will investigate whether these confirmed tomato targets are indeed used by whiteflies to improve the hosts’ suitability. The following criteria will be considered to decide which tomato targets to study in detail