How do plants balance microbial friends and foes?
E-Mail IMAGE: Mechanisms of symbiotic engagement -- three principles by which plants may select for or restrict potential mutualists or pathogens. view more Credit: David Thoms, Yan Liang, and Cara H. Haney Plants are constantly exposed to microbes: pathogens that cause disease, commensals that cause no harm or benefit, and mutualists that promote plant growth or help fend off pathogens. For example, most land plants can form positive relationships with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to improve nutrient uptake. How plants fight off pathogens without also killing beneficial microbes...
Source: eurekalert.org