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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Pathogen Interactions
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1445097

The overlooked manipulation of nucleolar functions by plant pathogen effectors

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 INRAE, Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut Sophia Agrobiotech, F-06903 Sophia Antipolis, France
  • 2 UMR5096 Laboratoire Génome et développement des plantes, Perpignan, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Pathogens need to manipulate plant functions to facilitate the invasion of their hosts. They do this by secreting a cocktail of molecules called effectors. Studies of these molecules have mostly focused on the mechanisms underlying their recognition and the subsequent transcriptional reprogramming of cells, particularly in the case of R gene-dependent resistance.However, the roles of these effectors are complex, as they target all cell compartments and their plant targets remain largely uncharacterised. An understanding of the mechanisms involved would be a considerable asset for plant breeding. The nucleolus is the site of many key cellular functions, such as ribosome biogenesis, cellular stress regulation and many other functions that could be targets for pathogenicity. However, little attention has been paid to effectors targeting nucleolar functions. In this review, we aim to fill this gap by providing recent findings on pathogen effectors that target and manipulate nucleolar functions and dynamics to promote infection. In particular, we look at how some effectors hijack ribosome biogenesis, the modulation of transcription or alternative splicing, all key functions occurring at least partially in the nucleolus. By shedding light on the role of the plant nucleolus in pathogen interactions, this review highlights the importance of understanding nucleolar biology in the context of plant immunity and the mechanisms manipulated by plant pathogens.

    Keywords: effector, nucleolus, Plant Immunity, pathogens, Nucleolar functions

    Received: 06 Jun 2024; Accepted: 16 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ranty-Roby, Pontvianne, Quentin and FAVERY. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Michaël Quentin, INRAE, Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut Sophia Agrobiotech, F-06903 Sophia Antipolis, France
    Bruno FAVERY, INRAE, Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut Sophia Agrobiotech, F-06903 Sophia Antipolis, France

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.