{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,12]],"date-time":"2026-09-12T05:06:34Z","timestamp":1789189594384,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788998400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100021171","name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2023A1515110331"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023A1515110331"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100021171","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100021171","name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2025A1515011232"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025A1515011232"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100021171","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["32402461"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32402461"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["32402461"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32402461"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Program of Fujian Key Laboratory for Monitoring and Integrated Management of Crop Pests","award":["MIMCP-202401"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MIMCP-202401"]}]},{"name":"Innovative team program of the Department of Education of Guangdong Province","award":["2023KCXTD018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023KCXTD018"]}]},{"award":["2023KCXTD018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023KCXTD018"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01s5gyw91","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Fungi","JoF"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Potato production is severely threatened by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans, the fungus Alternaria solani, and the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum; however, strategies capable of simultaneously managing these three pathogen classes remain relatively scarce. In this study, we designed a series of signal peptide (SP)-fused recombinant constructs containing four functional modules with distinct antimicrobial and immune-inducing properties: GAFP1-2\u00d7FYVE, an oomycete-inhibiting antimicrobial protein; BbAFP1-ErBD, a fungal-suppressive protein fragment; the pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) csp22 derived from R. solanacearum, which elicits effective anti-bacterial immunity; and the microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP) PpEli2 identified from Pythium periplocum, which triggers broad-spectrum plant defense responses. Through systematic evaluation of six module order rearrangements, we identified SP-cBG as the optimal multi-domain combination. Further optimization via the introduction of a rigid alpha-helical linker (HL4) yielded SP-cBG-HL4, which tended to show superior resistance against all three pathogens, as reflected in smaller lesion diameters and decreased bacterial titers. qRT-PCR analyses revealed that SP-cBG-HL4 significantly upregulated PTI (CYP71D20, PTI5), SA (PR1, PR2), and JA\/ET (PR3, PR4) defense marker genes. Collectively, these findings show that modular domain assembly combined with linker-mediated modular combinatorial optimization represents a powerful engineering strategy for achieving broad-spectrum disease resistance, offering a promising approach to simultaneously control oomycete, fungal, and bacterial pathogens of plants.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jof12090676","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T08:07:41Z","timestamp":1789027661000},"page":"676","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Modular Fusion Protein Strategy Confers Broad-Spectrum Resistance Against Phytophthora infestans, Alternaria solani, and Ralstonia solanacearum"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-9014-286X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kun","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-0301-2756","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rongbo","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fujian Key Laboratory for Monitoring and Integrated Management of Crop Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou 350013, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liguang","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agriculture and Biology, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kang","family":"An","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jitao","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Li","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianwei","family":"Shan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-7091-8935","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chengchen","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liang","family":"Qi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8913-036X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Li","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Agriculture and Biology, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaobo","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Crops Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1186\/s43897-024-00105-3","article-title":"Potato: From functional genomics to genetic improvement","volume":"4","author":"Qu","year":"2024","journal-title":"Mol. 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