Virulence articles from across Nature Portfolio

Woo et al. report new autophagy inhibitors identified through a high-throughput chemical screening using a BRET-based assay and an ATG8 synthetic sensor, that function as safe and effective fungicides against broad fungal pathogens.

In this Review, Roussin-Léveillée, Mackey and colleagues examine microorganism interaction with and manipulation of the plant apoplast. Effector-driven extracellular niche establishment is conceptualized as foundational to plant pathogenesis and frames the discussion of the complex interplay between pathogen virulence, host immunity and the physiological dynamics shaping plant–microorganism interactions.

Geminiviruses hijack the host DNA repairing proteins for their amplification. The authors report that Arabidopsis loses H3.1K27me1, a protector of genome stability, but gains resistance to geminivirus infection via retaining key factors like RAD51.

Defining plant defense machinery against pathogens is significant in cell biology and crop yield. TGNap1, a TGN and microtubule-binding protein, is required for defense and efficient anti-microbial protein secretion, linking secretion and cytoskeleton.

Plant-associated fungi range from pathogens to mutualists. Here the authors identify a gene cluster in a Colletotrichum tofieldiae strain that is required to allow the fungus to transition from a mutualist to a pathogen depending on the nutritional status of the host.

Fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea can send sRNAs to plant cells to suppress plant immunity. Here the authors demonstrate that B. cinerea utilizes extracellular vesicles (EVs) to secrete Bc-sRNAs, which are then internalized by plant cells through clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME).

Heat-shock protein 90 (HSP90) chaperones play an essential role in plant defence by assisting the folding of client proteins needed for immunity. A newly identified bacterial effector promotes disease by mimicking a HSP90 client, functioning as a minimal kinase that phosphorylates and inactivates the chaperone.

Saunders et al. discuss the latest research and strategies used to control wheat stem rust in Western Europe following their report of its recurrence in the UK for the first time in almost 60 years. In their Comment, they hope to build on their previous work to drive innovation in disease management.

Plants defend themselves from invading viruses using RNA silencing. However, plant viruses try to spoil this defensive mechanism by expressing one or more proteins that act as RNA silencing suppressors. One such protein spoils plant defence by transporting the silencing signal into the peroxisomes to avoid its systemic spread.

Transgenic plants expressing viral DNA-targeting components of the CRISPR–Cas genome editing system are immune to geminiviruses.