Phytobacterial Effectors Antagonize Plant Reproduction: New Weapons in Hand

Bacteria secrete proteins into plant cells to reprogram host immunity and development. Yang et al. recently revealed that a nonadapted bacterial pathogen, Xanthomonas oryzae (Xoo), suppresses reproduction in arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) via a type VI-secreted effector TleB. Delivery of TleB to flowers disrupts an ovule initiation program controlled by the PUB14-BZR1 transcriptional module.