Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 May 7:3:85.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2012.00085. eCollection 2012.

The plant cell wall: a dynamic barrier against pathogen invasion

William Underwood  1
Affiliations

The plant cell wall: a dynamic barrier against pathogen invasion

William Underwood. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Prospective plant pathogens must overcome the physical barrier presented by the plant cell wall. In addition to being a preformed, passive barrier limiting access of pathogens to plant cells, the cell wall is actively remodeled and reinforced specifically at discrete sites of interaction with potentially pathogenic microbes. Active reinforcement of the cell wall through the deposition of cell wall appositions, referred to as papillae, is an early response to perception of numerous categories of pathogens including fungi and bacteria. Rapid deposition of papillae is generally correlated with resistance to fungal pathogens that attempt to penetrate plant cell walls for the establishment of feeding structures. Despite the ubiquity and apparent importance of this early defense response, relatively little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms and cellular processes involved in the targeting and assembly of papillae. This review summarizes recent advances in our understanding of cell wall-associated defenses induced by pathogen perception as well as the impact of changes in cell wall polymers on interactions with pathogens and highlights significant unanswered questions driving future research in the area.

Keywords: callose; cell wall adhesion; cell wall apposition; disease resistance; immunity; papilla; pathogen.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cell wall-associated structures commonly observed at sites of interaction with powdery mildews and other fungal pathogens. (A) A fungal penetration attempt halted by deposition of a cell wall apposition (blue). Inset image illustrates a top-down view of the penetration site as typically visualized by light microscopy. (B) A successful penetration event in which the fungus has formed a haustorial feeding structure. The cell wall apposition materials form a neck-band or collar around the neck of the haustorium. (C) A haustorium partially surrounded by a haustorial encasement. Encasements contain materials similar to those found in cell wall appositions. (D) A fully encased haustorium. CW, cell wall; PM, plasma membrane; C, conidiospore; PGT, primary germ tube (note that not all powdery mildew species develop PGTs); AGT, appressorial germ tube; PP, penetration peg; H, haustorium; EHM, extra-haustorial membrane; NB, haustorial neck-band; P, papilla (e.g., cell wall apposition); E, haustorial encasement.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Aarts N., Metz M., Holub E., Staskawicz B. J., Daniels M. J., Parker J. E. (1998). Different requirements for EDS1 and NDR1 by disease resistance genes define at least two R gene-mediated signaling pathways in Arabidopsis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 95, 10306–1031110.1073/pnas.95.17.10306 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aist J. R. (1976). Papillae and related wound plugs of plant cells. Annu. Rev. Phtyopathol. 14, 145–16310.1146/annurev.py.14.090176.001045 - DOI
    1. An Q., Ehlers K., Kogel K-H., van Bel A. J. E., Hückelhoven R. (2006). Multivesicular compartments proliferate in susceptible and resistant MLA12-barley leaves in response to infection by the biotrophic powdery mildew fungus. New Phytol. 172, 563–57610.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01844.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anantharaman V., Aravind L. (2010). Novel eukaryotic enzymes modifying cell surface biopolymers. Biol. Direct 5, 1.10.1186/1745-6150-5-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bayles C. J., Ghemawat M. S., Aist J. R. (1990). Inhibition by 2-deoxy-D-glucose of callose formation, papilla deposition, and resistance to powdery mildew in an mlo barley mutant. Physiol. Mol. Plant Pathol. 36, 63–7210.1016/0885-5765(90)90092-C - DOI

LinkOut - more resources