Signalling pathway links local and systemic plant immunity
When plants discover a pathogen, they prepare for
system-wide attack so they are ready to fight on all levels. Working with
colleagues, Annegret Ross and Yusuke Saijo of the Max Planck Institute for
Plant Breeding Research in Cologne have discovered that this systemic defence
can be triggered by a signalling pathway that reacts to short protein
fragments. These are thought to originate when a plant cell is damaged by a
pathogen. The signalling pathway introduces a molecular mediator into the
plant's vascular system, putting all areas on alert.