Pathways to engineering plant intracellular NLR immune receptors

Factors including climate change and increased global ex-change are set to escalate the prevalence of plant diseases, posing an unprecedented threat to global food security and making it more challenging to meet the demands of an ever-growing population. As such, new methods of pathogen control are essential to help with the growing danger of crop losses to plant diseases. The intracellular immune system of plants uti-lizes nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors to recognize and activate defense responses to pathogen viru-lence proteins (effectors) delivered to the host. Engineering the recognition properties of plant NLRs toward pathogen effectors is a genetic solution to plant diseases with high specificity, and it is more sustainable than several current methods for path-ogen control that frequently rely on agrochemicals. Here, we highlight the pioneering approaches toward enhancing effector recognition in plant NLRs and discuss the barriers and solu-tions in engineering the plant intracellular immune system.

Automated summary

Factors such as climate change and increased global trade will worsen the prevalence of plant diseases, posing a significant threat to global food security. Developing new methods of pathogen control is crucial to effectively combat crop losses and protect plant health.