Pathogen Disables Plant’s ‘Intruder Alarm’ to Gain Entry

Thanks to cell surface receptors, plants can protect themselves from pathogen invasions. These cell receptors act as the plants’ intruder detection system. Once activated, they will trigger a cascade of signals that will ultimately lead to production of antimicrobial compounds to ward off or kill the bacterial invaders.

Scientists from Imperial College London, Max Planck Institute in Cologne and Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center studied the pathogen that causes bacterial speck disease in tomato plants. They found that the pathogen is very effective at attacking tomato plants because it deactivates and destroys the cell surface receptors- pretty much how an intruder would deactivate the burglar alarm before gaining entry to a house. The researchers studied the mechanism of pathogen entry using Arabidopsis, the laboratory rat of the plant world. The findings may help scientists develop ways to tackle the bacterial speck pathogen, and other plant diseases, without the need for pesticides.

The paper published by Current Biology is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.10.063 For more information, contact Danielle Reeves at danielle.reeves@imperial.ac.uk