Author
Submitted to: Nature Genetics
Publication Type: Review Article Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2015 Publication Date: 1/28/2015 Citation: Balint Kurti, P.J., Holland, J.B. 2015. New insight into a complex plant-fungal pathogen interaction. Nature Genetics. 47:101-103. Interpretive Summary: This manuscript is a commentary accompanying a research paper appearing in the same issue of Nature Genetics on the identification and characterization of a gene conferring resistance to Head smut in maize. The gene is a wall-associated kinase which confers partial resistance to a fungal pathogen not by preventing initial infection, but by limiting its spread through the plant. Technical Abstract: The coevolution of plants and microbes has shaped plant mechanisms that detect and repel pathogens. A newly identified plant gene confers partial resistance to a fungal pathogen not by preventing initial infection, but by limiting its spread through the plant. |