The tug-of-war on iron between plant and pathogen

Abstract

AbstractIron participates in various crucial metabolic processes as an essential cofactor of many enzymes, which are vital to the survival of plants and their pathogens. However, excessive iron is toxic to the cells of plants and pathogens. Iron plays a complex role in the interactions between plants and pathogens. Plants and pathogens have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to modulate iron status at a moderate level for maintaining fitness. Iron competition extensively exists on both sides of plants and pathogens during infection. Plants employ iron withholding, local iron accumulation, or iron deficiency to trigger resistance against pathogens. Pathogens counteract host-derived iron stress or interfere with plant iron homeostasis to ensure virulence during infection. This review focuses on the recent progress in understanding the roles of iron in plant-pathogen interactions and proposes prospects for future studies.