Tag: Biotic Interactions

With changing climate, crops may need to be relocated to new regions for optimal growth temperatures or precipitation, but temperature and rainfall are not the sole influencers of productivity. Many crops, including coffee, depend on pollinators, which may or may not be available in other regions. Imbach…

Aphids are major pests that damage plants by sucking out phloem sap and as by acting as vectors in transmission of more than 300 different viruses. Kloth et al. used a high-throughput method involving video-tracking of aphid behavior on leaf discs to score 350 Arabidopsis accessions for aphid resistance.…

The first step in defending yourself is recognizing that you need to defend yourself. Gust et al. review the mechanisms through which plants sense danger, drawing parallels to similar mechanisms in animals. They define three categories of danger signals. Exogenous signals are “non-self” signals,…

Pathogenic microbes interfere with the host cellular and physiological processes to promote infection. This interaction is monitored by pathogen molecules called effectors that either act in intercellular space or enter the host cells. Mechanisms underlying the uptake of these effectors are not fully…

Pathogenic microbes manipulate host plants by secreting effector molecules that interfere with immunity. Bacterial phytopathogens achieve this using specialized secretion apparatuses that act as molecular ‘hypodermic needles’ to inject effector proteins directly into plant cells. In comparison, effector…

Dodders (Cuscuta spp) are parasitic plants, which absorb water and nutrients from their host. Their vines can embrace, and in this way connect, more than one host. Hettenhausen et al. showed that in certain situations these connections serve as communication routes. In their experiment a pair of soybean…

During our holidays, many of us plant scientists love to go to re-energize in remote places, ideally with no technology. Have you ever imagined how our “advanced” way of living is changing our environment?  In a recent paper, Knop et al. show evidence that nocturnal pollinators are negatively affected…

Chanclud and Lacombe have written an intriguing Opinion article asking to what extent plant hormones affect animal gut microbiota and human disease. In support of this question, they observe that many microbes and even some animals can perceive and respond to plant hormones, or produce plant-hormone…