2010 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) Develop methods for targeting and investigating interactions between soybean pathogen proteins and plant proteins involved in disease resistance or other important signaling pathways necessary for optimal plant productivity. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Genes from plants and pathogens will be modified to encode a recognizable protein sequence tag. The modified gene will be expressed in plants. The expressed tagged-protein from the transgene will be purified based on tag recognition methodology and approaches will be designed to isolate the tagged protein and it’s potential interacting protein partners. These protein complexes or aggregates will be analyzed by mass spectrometry, which will resolve the individual protein components and thus reveal which proteins are interacting with the tagged protein. 3.Progress Report The goal is to develop methods for targeting and investigating molecular interactions between soybean and pathogen proteins. Genes from plants and pathogens have been modified to encode a sequence tag and have been expressed in plants. Tagged proteins have been specifically isolated from plants to determine if there were any interacting protein partners. Results suggest ethylene has a role in the specific accumulation and interactions between some proteins. These results are being investigated further. Quarterly meetings, annual budget reports, and an annual written progress report are used to monitor project progress.