"Will the blight end the chestnut? The farmers rather guess not.
“枯萎病会终结栗树吗？栗农希望不会。
It keeps smouldering at the roots And sending up new shoots Till another parasite Shall come to end the blight."
病菌在树根蔓延，长出新丝，直到另一种寄生物，来终结枯萎病。”
At the beginning of the 20th century, the eastern American chestnut population, counting nearly four billion trees,
在二十世纪早期，美国东部将近四十亿棵的栗树
was completely decimated by a fungal infection.
遭到一种真菌的感染而全部死亡了。
Fungi are the most destructive pathogens of plants, including crops of major economic importance.
真菌对植物来说，包括一些具有重要经济意义的作物，是最具毁灭性的病原体。
Can you imagine that today, crop losses associated with fungal infection are estimated at billions of dollars per year, worldwide?
你能想象，在今天，据估计，世界范围内作物因为真菌的感染产生的损失每年有数十亿美元吗？
That represents enough food calories to feed half a billion people.
换算成食物热量，足够养活五亿人口。
And this leads to severe repercussions,
而这会产生严重的后果，
including episodes of famine in developing countries, large reduction of income for farmers and distributors,
包括在发展中国家引发饥荒，农民和经销商巨大的经济损失，
high prices for consumers and risk of exposure to mycotoxin, poison produced by fungi.
消费者面临的高价，以及暴露在由真菌产生的毒枝菌素中的风险。
The problems that we face is that the current method used to prevent and treat those dreadful diseases,
我们面临的问题是，现今用来预防和治疗这些可怕疾病的方法，
such as genetic control, exploiting natural sources of resistance,
比如基因控制，发掘真菌抗性的天然来源，
crop rotation or seed treatment, among others, are still limited or ephemeral. They have to be constantly renewed.
轮种，或是种子处理等等，作用仍然有限，或是暂时的。它们必须不断被更新。
Therefore, we urgently need to develop more efficient strategies and for this,
因此，我们急需开发更有效的方法，为此，
research is required to identify biological mechanisms that can be targeted by novel antifungal treatments.
需要有相关研究来识别可被新型抗菌疗法识别的生物机制。
One feature of fungi is that they cannot move and only grow by extension to form a sophisticated network, the mycelium.
真菌的一大特征是它们不能移动，而且只能通过延展形成复杂的网络来生长，即菌丝体。
In 1884, Anton de Bary, the father of plant pathology, was the first to presume that
1884年，Anton de Bary，植物病理学之父，第一次提出，
fungi are guided by signals sent out from the host plant, meaning a plant upon which it can lodge and subsist,
真菌是由宿主植物发出的信号，来引导生长的假设，即真菌可以寄生在植物体上，
so signals act as a lighthouse for fungi to locate, grow toward, reach and finally invade and colonize a plant.
这些信号对真菌来说就如灯塔，帮助它们定位，蔓延，成长，最终入侵并寄生于这株植物。
He knew that the identification of such signals would unlock a great knowledge
他知道对这类信号的识别可以阻断真菌和植物之间的作用，
that then serves to elaborate strategy to block the interaction between the fungus and the plant.
增加我们的知识储备并形成对策。

However, the lack of an appropriate method at that moment prevented him from identifying this mechanism at the molecular level.
但是，当时并没有合适的方法，让他能够从分子层面定义这一机制。
Using purification and mutational genomic approaches,
利用提纯和基因突变方法，
as well as a technique allowing the measurement of directed hyphal growth, today I'm glad to tell you that after 130 years,
还有另一种可以测度菌丝生长指向的技术，130年后的今天，我能很高兴的告诉你们，
my former team and I could finally identify such plant signals
我和我之前的团队终于识别了这种植物信号，
by studying the interaction between a pathogenic fungus called Fusarium oxysporum and one of its host plants, the tomato plant.
我们是通过研究一种叫尖孢镰刀菌的病原真菌和它的宿主之一，番茄，来识别的。
As well, we could characterize the fungal receptor receiving those signals
同时，我们还识别了真菌接收这些信号的接收器，
and part of the underlying reaction occurring within the fungus and leading to its direct growth toward the plant. Thank you.
以及发生在真菌体内指引它向植物生长的潜在反应。谢谢。
The understanding of such molecular processes offers a panel of potential molecules that can be used to create novel antifungal treatments.
理解这一分子过程，提供了众多可以用来进行创新抗菌治疗的潜在分子种类。
And those treatments would disrupt the interaction between the fungus and the plant
这些疗法会扰乱真菌和植物之间的相互作用，
either by blocking the plant signal or the fungal reception system which receives those signals.
要么通过阻断植物信号实现，要么通过阻断真菌的信号接收系统实现。
Fungal infections have devastated agriculture crops.
真菌感染已经摧毁过大量农作物。
Moreover, we are now in an era where the demand of crop production is increasing significantly.
此外，我们所处的是一个对粮食需求显著上涨的时代。
And this is due to population growth, economic development, climate change and demand for bio fuels.
这是由于人口增长、经济发展、气候变化以及对生物燃料的需求引起的。
Our understanding of the molecular mechanism of interaction between a fungus and its host plant, such as the tomato plant,
我们对真菌和宿主植物之间作用的分子机制的了解，譬如番茄这一宿主，
potentially represents a major step towards developing more efficient strategy to combat plant fungal diseases
可能代表着迈向更有效对抗植物真菌病毒的一大步，
and therefore solving of problems that affect people's lives, food security and economic growth. Thank you.
进而可以解决影响人们生活、食品安全和经济增长的问题。谢谢。