Early signal transduction pathways in plant-pathogen interactions

Disease resistance depends on the ability of the plant to recognize a pathogen early in the infection process. Molecules that indicate the presence of the pathogen (elicitors) activate host receptors and these rapidly generate an internal signal that triggers early defense responses, Several transduction pathways that relay the initial recognition signal through a series of cytosolic and membrane-delimited pathways have been proposed, Activation of these signal transduction pathways ensures an elicitor-induced response that is quantitative, timely and coordinated with other activities of the host cells.