Abstract
AbstractIn this article I will review how over a period of about 70 years the advancement of new technologies has catapulted the odd fungus Ustilago maydis causing a strange disease in maize to surface as one of the most accessible systems to understand biotrophic eukaryotic plant pathogens molecularly. The U. maydis-maize interaction system allows fundamental insights into the intricacies of what it takes to infect a plant successfully, to modulate its metabolism so that it serves fungal needs and at the same time provides an environment that allows the fungus to undergo morphological transitions and complete its sexual life cycle.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC