Secondary structure elements often mediate protein-protein interactions. Despite their low abundance in folded proteins, polyproline II (PPII) and its variant, the triple helix, are frequently involved in protein-protein interactions, likely due to their peculiar propensity to be solvent-exposed. We here review the role of PPII and triple helix in mediating hostpathogen interactions, with a par...

ABSTRACT Although plant disease epidemiology has focused on populations in which all host plants have the same genotype, mixtures of host genotypes are more typical of natural populations and offer promising options for deployment of resistance genes in agriculture. In this review, we discuss Leonard's classic model of the effects of host genotype diversity on disease and its predictions of dis...

Bacterial engagement of specific host tissue structures can be a means of targeting a pathogen to a particular niche, establishing persistent infections and inducing invasion. In this context, primary adhesion is often the first crucial colonization step allowing pathogens to withstand the mechanical clearing mechanisms of the host. As a consequence, bacteria have evolved adhesins with the capa...

Pathogens is instituting annual awards to recognize the most outstanding papers in the areas of all aspects of pathogens and pathogen-host interactions published in Pathogens. We are pleased to announce the recipients of the first “Pathogens Best Paper Awards”. Nominations were selected by the Editor-in-Chief and several Editorial Board members of Pathogens from all original research articles p...

Host-pathogen interactions are the result of continuously evolving dynamics genomic interphases between pathogens and host plants. Alternaria brown spot (ABS) caused by pathogen alternata is a serious threat to tangerine production. Although recent studies have made significant advances in characterization A. virulence factors, gap exists regulation virulent genes throughout course infection on...

! Abstract Novel plant-pathogen combinations occur whenever pathogen or plant species are introduced to regions outside their native range. Whether a pathogen is able to acquire a new host depends on the genetic compatibility between the two, through either preadaptation of the pathogen or subsequent evolutionary change. The ecological outcome of the novel interaction—for example, a spreading d...

Certain bacterial adhesins appear to promote a pathogen's extracellular lifestyle rather than its entry into host cells. However, little is known about the stimuli elicited upon such pathogen host-cell interactions. Here, we report that type IV pili (Tfp)-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (P(+)GC) induces an immediate recruitment of caveolin-1 (Cav1) in the host cell, which subsequently prevents ...

Infectious diseases are intimately associated with the dynamics of biodiversity. However, the role that infectious disease plays within ecological communities is complex. The complex effects of infectious disease at the scale of communities and ecosystems are driven by the interaction between host and pathogen. Whether or not a given host-pathogen interaction results in progression from infecti...