Plants host diverse microbiota that influence physiological processes and can enhance resilience against invading pathogens that, in turn, evolved effector proteins to manipulate host microbiota in th...

We introduce MolPhase (http://molphase.sbs.ntu.edu.sg/), an advanced protein phase separation (PS) p

Zymoseptoria tritici, the causal agent of the foliar disease Septoria tritici blotch (STB), is a major wheat pathogen in Europe. Although several wheat resistance (R) genes have been identified, Z. tr...

By Benjamin Petre and Sophien Kamoun. They conclude, "The major challenge for the community is methodological. We therefore need to develop genetic, biochemical, and cell biological methods to manipulate, tag, detect, and observe effectors during infection."

Vacuolar sorting receptors (VSRs) play crucial roles in plant stress responses. This study reveals that VSRs orchestrate the vacuolar sorting of immune-related proteins and autophagic degradation of b...

Herbivore insects deploy salivary effectors to manipulate the defense of their host plants, however,

It has been discovered that plant pathogens produce effectors that spread via plasmodesmata (PD) to allow modulation of host processes in distal uninfected cells. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol) facilitates effector translocation by expansion of the size-exclusion limit of PD using the Six5/Avr2 effector pair. How other fungal pathogens manipulate PD is unknown. We recently reported that many fungal pathogens belonging to different families carry effector pairs that resemble the SIX5/AVR2 gene pair from Fol. Here, we performed structural predictions of three of these effector pairs from Leptosphaeria maculans (Lm) and tested their ability to manipulate PD and to complement the virulence defect of a Fol SIX5 knockout mutant. We show that the AvrLm10A homologs are structurally related to FolSix5 and localize at PD when they are expressed with their paired effectors. Furthermore, these effectors were found to complement FolSix5 function in cell-to-cell mobility assays and in fungal virulence. We conclude that distantly related fungal species rely on structurally related paired effector proteins to manipulate PD and facilitate effector mobility. The wide distribution of these effector pairs implies Six5-mediated effector translocation to be a conserved propensity among fungal plant pathogens. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Plants have developed a complex immune system to detect and respond to invading pathogens. A critical aspect of this defense relies on regulatory mechanisms that control the activation of immune res...

Pathogens secrete effectors to promote disease, symbionts might use them to confer benefits. Here, the authors identify 106 candidate effectors from the symbiont Serendipita indica, characterise their...

The phytoplasma bacterial plant parasite depends on leafhopper insects to spread and propagate itself. This study reveals how phytoplasma subverts plant development to turn flowers into leaves and thu...

Identification and functional characterization of candidate effector proteins of pathogens are essential for understanding plant-microbe interactions. Here, we present a protocol for probing candidate effector activity using the Prf-based plant cell death phenotype. We describe steps for co-infiltrating plant leaves with a Prf protein and the effector and visually assess the cell death phenotype as a readout for detecting effector activity. The protocol enables the screening of candidate effecto...