Arabidopsis uses molecular decoy to trick pathogens
Monday, June 8, 2015 - 05:00
in Biology & Nature
In the animal kingdom, predators use a full range of strategies, such as camouflage, speed and optical illusions, to catch their prey. Meanwhile, prey species resort to the same tactics to escape from their predators. Such tricks are also used at the molecular level, as discovered by researchers from the CNRS, INRA, CEA and INSERM in one of the most devastating bacterial plant pathogens in the world, which bypasses plant cell defenses by preventing an immune signaling from being triggered. Even more surprising is the fact that plant cells have developed a receptor incorporating a decoy intended to catch the invader in its own trap. This work, which has a wealth of applications, was published May 21, 2015 in the journal Cell.