Molecular Regulation of Plant Immunity

Dear Colleagues,

Plants face various attacks from a great number of pathogenic organisms with different lifestyles throughout their lifetime. Like animals, plants possess a powerful immune system, which recognizes pathogenic organisms including bacteria, fungi, viruses, oomycetes, nematodes, insects, etc., to mount a series of defenses to survive from invading pathogens. During the past three decades, the molecular studies of plant and microbe interactions have made tremendous progress.

Two layers of plant immune systems are used by plants to defend against pathogenic organisms. The first layer is pathogen-associate molecular pattern (PAMP)-triggered immunity (PTI), which is activated by plant cell-surface pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) upon perception of microbe general elicitors. The second layer is effector-triggered immunity (ETI), which is initiated by specific recognition of pathogen secreted effectors with plant resistance (R) proteins. Dynamic immune signaling and dramatic cellular events may also take place, accompanied by the activation of the plant immune system. Immune responses occurring at the microenvironment of a plant cell such as the apoplastic space, the cell membrane, the organelles, etc., have also broadened our understanding of the plant immune system. This fundamental knowledge around plant immunity, including the discovery of many disease genes, has greatly helped toward crop disease control and resistance breeding, and safeguarding food supply.

In this Special Issue, we welcome original research from all fields of interactions of plant and pathogenic organisms, with a focus on molecular regulation of plant immunity. We also welcome reviews, perspectives, hypotheses, and methods on a well-defined, very specific topic in this field.

Dr. Chao Yang
Dr. Libo Han
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• innate immunity
• pattern-triggered immunity (PTI)
• effector-triggered immunity (ETI)
• pathogen- and/or microbe-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs/MAMPs)
• damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs)
• plant defenses
• induced resistance
• defense signaling
• transcriptional regulation
• translational regulation
• post-translational regulation
• cell biology in plant defense