Common and contrasting themes of plant and animal diseases

Recent studies in bacterial pathogenesis reveal common and contrasting mech anisms of pathogen virulence and host resistance in plant and animal diseas es, This review presents recent developments in the study of plant and anim al pathogenesis, with respect to bacterial colonization and the delivery of effector proteins to the host. Furthermore, host defense responses in both plants and animals are discussed in relation to mechanisms of pathogen rec ognition and defense signaling. Future studies will greatly add to our unde rstanding of the molecular events defining host-pathogen interactions.