Signal recognition and transduction mediated by the tomato Pto kinase: a paradigm of innate immunity in plants

Plant disease resistance is the result of an innate host defense mechanism, which relies on the ability of the plant to recognize pathogen invasion an d to efficiently mount defense responses. In tomato, resistance to the path ogen Pseudomonas syringae is mediated by the specific interaction between t he plant serine/threonine kinase Pro and the bacterial protein AvrPto. This article reviews molecular and biochemical properties that confer to Pto th e capability to function as an intracellular receptor and to activate a sig naling cascade reading to the induction of defense responses. (C) 2000 Edit ions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.