How pathogens attack plants

Intracellular pathogens under attack

T he immune system provides a formidable barrier that prevents us from being overwhelmed by the numerous microbial pathogens that we encounter every day. However, many pathogens manage to escape the immune system by invading cells and replicating within them. To counter these pathogens immune cells produce a powerful cytokine called interferon-g that reprograms the invaded cells to express hund...

Trypanosome pathogens of plants

Recognition of pathogens by plants

Plants must respond appropriately to a broad array of abiotic and biotic factors in the attempt to accumulate nutrient reserves and reach reproductive maturity. To complicate matters, their stockpile of nutrients makes them prime targets for pathogen attack. Phytopathogenic bacteria, fungi, and viruses all make raids on the stockpile, yet most plants are able to remain disease free. Plants have...

The fog of war: How network buffering protects plants’ defense secrets from pathogens

Plants lack the mechanisms needed for adaptive immunity and thus rely entirely on innate immunity to protect themselves from pathogens and pests [1]. Their innate immune systems must protect against innumerable, highly adaptable viruses bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, nematodes, and insects. Two important components of the plant immune system are induced by the presence of pathogen molecules [1]. O...

How filamentous pathogens co-opt plants: the ins and outs of fungal effectors.

Research on effectors secreted by pathogens during host attack has dominated the field of molecular plant-microbe interactions over recent years. Functional analysis of type III secreted effectors injected by pathogenic bacteria into host cells has significantly advanced the field and demonstrated that many function to suppress host defense. Fungal and oomycete effectors are delivered outside t...