Fungal Peptide Elicitors: Signals Mediating Pathogen Recognition in Plants

Highly sensitive and specific recognition systems for microbial pathogens are essential for disease resistance in plants. Proteinaceous elicitors activating plant pathogen defense have been identified in numerous antagonistic plant/fungus interactions. Precisely defined signal structures required for elicitor-mediated activation of plant defense are indicative of the involvement of receptors in elicitor perception and subsequent signal generation. Use of pure elicitor preparations has helped to establish a functional link between binding of elicitors to high-affinity binding sites in plant plasma membranes and activation of plant defense. Thus elicitor binding sites appear to function as physiological receptors. Currently, isolation and molecular characterization of elicitor receptors is under way. Transfer of new recognition specificities into plants is supposed to be a key strategy for engineering pathogen resistance in economically important crops.