Oh, the places they'll go! A survey of phytopathogen effectors and their host targets

Citation

Khan, M., Seto, D., Subramaniam, R., Desveaux, D. (2018). Oh, the places they'll go! A survey of phytopathogen effectors and their host targets. Plant Journal, [online] 93(4), 651-663. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tpj.13780

Plain language summary

Phytopathogens translocate effector proteins into plant cells where they sabotage the host cellular machinery to promote infection. An individual pathogen can translocate numerous distinct effectors during the infection process to target an array of host macromolecules (proteins, metabolites, DNA, etc…) and manipulate them using a variety of enzymatic activities. In this review, we have surveyed the literature for effector targets and curated them to convey the range of functions carried out by phytopathogenic proteins inside host cells. In particular, we have curated the locations of effector targets, as well as their biological and molecular functions and compared these properties between different pathogenic species. This analysis has confirmed previous observations about effector functions (eg. disarming immunity), and has also highlighted some interesting features of effector biology as well as the pathogenic strategies of different phytopathogens

Abstract

Phytopathogens translocate effector proteins into plant cells where they sabotage the host cellular machinery to promote infection. An individual pathogen can translocate numerous distinct effectors during the infection process to target an array of host macromolecules (proteins, metabolites, DNA, etc.) and manipulate them using a variety of enzymatic activities. In this review, we have surveyed the literature for effector targets and curated them to convey the range of functions carried out by phytopathogenic proteins inside host cells. In particular, we have curated the locations of effector targets, as well as their biological and molecular functions and compared these properties across diverse phytopathogens. This analysis validates previous observations about effector functions (e.g. immunosuppression), and also highlights some interesting features regarding effector specificity as well as functional diversification of phytopathogen virulence strategies.

Publication date

2018-02-01