Antimicrobial effectors of plant-associated fungi: multipurpose proteins with fast-evolving surfaces and structurally conserved cores.
Pachinger L, Stukenbrock EH
Plant Signaling
The mold attacking your tomatoes or the blight on your roses isn't just fighting your plant—it's actively reshaping the entire invisible community of beneficial microbes on that plant to make the infection worse.
When a fungus infects a plant, it releases special proteins that do two jobs at once: they confuse the plant's defenses and they kill off the helpful bacteria and fungi that normally live on the plant. Scientists using computer analysis discovered that these proteins share the same basic 3D shape across many different fungal species, but their outer surfaces change quickly—like a master key that keeps its core shape but gets new teeth cut to open different locks. This means disease-causing fungi can rapidly evolve new attacks while building on the same toolkit.
Key Findings
Fungal effector proteins serve dual roles: suppressing plant immune responses AND killing competing microbes in the plant's microbiome to aid colonization.
Computational structural analysis shows effector proteins are highly conserved in their 3D core folds across phylogenetically distant fungal species, while surface regions evolve rapidly to acquire new functions.
Protein evolution simulations indicate that antimicrobial and immune-suppressing properties can emerge quickly through surface-level changes around these conserved structural scaffolds, explaining how diverse pathogens independently evolve similar attack strategies.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Fungi that infect plants secrete proteins called effectors that not only manipulate the plant's immune system but also kill off competing microbes living on the plant. Computational biology is revealing that these multi-purpose proteins evolve rapidly on their surfaces while keeping a stable structural core—a strategy that lets pathogens adapt quickly without losing function.
Abstract Preview
Plants are exposed to a variety of devastating pathogens, causing significant yearly yield losses. In order to facilitate infections, plant pathogens secrete an arsenal of molecules termed effector...
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