Review: Surface sensor systems in plant immunity (Plant Physiol)

The first line of defense is detection. Plants have numerous cell-surface receptor proteins (Pattern Recognition Receptors, PRRs) that recognize potentially harmful pathogens as well as endogenous molecules that suggest damage, known as Damage Associated Molecular Patterns or DAMPS and phytocytokines (not to be confused with cytokinins!). If you’re not working in this area, it can come across as a bit of an “alphabet soup”, particularly as the PRRs are found in large gene families and are frequently genus-specific due to “substantial evolutionary dynamics.” This review by Albert et al. does a nice job of putting all of these abbreviations into context to help you sort out your LRR-RKs from your LRR-RPs from your LysM-RK/RPs. The signaling pathways downstream of the PRRs and the effectors produced by pathogens that target PRRs and are also covered in this review. (Summary by Mary Williams) Plant Physiol. 10.1104/pp.19.01299