Plant defense: One post, multiple guards?!

Arabidopsis RIN4 is a key bacterial virulence target that is guarded by the resistance (R) protein RPM1. Two recent studies suggest that another R protein, RPS2, also guards RIN4. Bacterial avirulence (Avr) effectors AvrB, AvrRpm1, and AvrRpt2 alter this key protein. R proteins RPM1 and RPS2 recognize the altered status and initiate a defense-signaling response. The guard hypothesis is in!.