Inside plant: biotrophic strategies to modulate host immunity and metabolism

Filamentous plant pathogens that establish biotrophic interactions need to avoid plant immune responses. Recent findings from different pathosystems suggest that sufficient suppression of host immunity is based on the modulation of a rather limited number of host targets. Microbial strategies to target host physiology dependent on the duration of biotrophy, the style of host tissue colonization and the degree of interference with plant development. In this article, we present current concepts in biotrophic virulence strategies and discuss mechanisms of pathogen adaptation and effector specialization.