Review. Plant cell wall-mediated immunity: cell wall changes trigger disease resistance responses

Plant cell walls have recently been revealed as an essential factor of plant environment monitoring system, much more than just a passive defensive barrier as previously thought. In a recent work, Bacete et al. have reviewed how changes to plant cell wall integrity affect disease resistance. More specifically, how the impairment of cellulose biosynthesis, the degree of modification of pectins and even the content and degree of acetylation of hemicellulose polysaccharides influence plant disease resistance. Current understanding on how alterations are perceived by plant cells is still scarce; nevertheless the authors list what is known on the molecular mechanisms for the perception of cell wall integrity alterations and subsequent activation of defense responses, including what is known for the osmo- and mechano-perception sensor systems in plants, the role and nature of pattern recognition receptors (PPRs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). (Summary by Isabel Mendoza) Plant J. 10.1111/tpj.13807