From
www.sciencemag.org
- October 28, 4:06 PM
Typically, pathogens deploy virulence effectors to disable defense.
Plants defeat effectors with resistance proteins that guard effector
targets. Here, we show that a pathogen exploits a resistance protein by
activating it to confer susceptibility. Interactions of victorin, an
effector produced by the necrotrophic fungus Cochliobolus victoriae,
TRX-h5, a defense-associated thioredoxin, and LOV1, an Arabidopsis
susceptibility protein, recapitulate the guard mechanism of plant
defense. In LOV1's absence, victorin inhibits TRX-h5 resulting in
compromised defense but not disease by C. victoriae. In LOV1's presence,
victorin binding to TRX-h5 activates LOV1 and elicits a resistance-like
response that confers disease susceptibility. We propose that victorin
is or mimics a conventional pathogen virulence effector that was
defeated by LOV1 and confers virulence to C. victoriae solely because it
incites defense.
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/10/18/science.1226743.long
