Review: Lessons in effector and NLR biology of plant-microbe systems

Two of the key players in the plant-pathogen interaction are the effectors produced by pathogens (that “modulate plant physiology to favor host infection and colonization”) and the plant immune receptors (including NLR proteins: nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeatcontaining) that are instrumental in eliciting host responses. This particularly nice review by Białas and Zess et al. focuses on three effector proteins from the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, and from these draws 12 key lessons about pathogen-host interactions. The authors do a good job of explaining key ideas and concepts, which along with good illustrations make these key lessons accessible even to those outside the discipline. bioRxiv  10.1101/171223