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Nature 394, 525-527 (6 August 1998) | doi:10.1038/28958

Innate immunity:  Plants just say NO to pathogens

Jeff Dangl1

Every home gardener can attest to the voracity of plant pathogens, but less well-known are the specific mechanisms that plants deploy to resist such fungal, bacterial, viral and nematode infections. Chief among these is the plant 'innate immune system', which is largely based on the specific recognition of pathogen-encoded molecules through probable receptors encoded by disease-resistance (R) genes 1.

  1. Jeff Dangl is in the Department of Biology and Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#3280, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3280, USA.
    e-mail: Email: dangl@email.unc.edu.