When disease-resistant rice is invaded by disease-causing bacteria, a small protein produced by the bacteria betrays the invader. Upon recognizing that protein, the rice plants sense that a microbial attack is underway and are able to mount an immune response to fend off bacterial infection, reports a research team led by the University of California, Davis.
Identification of the tiny protein, called RaxX, holds promise for developing more disease-resistant crop varieties and therapeutic treatments for blocking microbial infections in both plants and animals, said the researchers, who found particular satisfaction in this discovery, two years after retracting the announcement of a similar find.
More information is available here: http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=11267
