Salk Institute scientists find how a plant protein makes plants less resistant to infection

January 10, 2018 |

In California, Salk Institute scientists studying a plant protein called SOBER1 recently discovered one mechanism by which, counterintuitively, plants seem to render themselves less resistant to infection.

The work, which appeared in Nature Communications, sheds light on plant resistance generally and could lead to strategies to boost plants’ natural immunity or to better contain infections that threaten to destroy an entire agricultural crop.

Further tests showed that the activity and function of SOBER1 is not restricted to the weed Arabidopsis thaliana, but also exists oilseed rape demonstrating that the findings could be applied to agricultural crops and biofuel resources.

Category: Research

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