Cell death as a defense strategy against pathogens in plants and animals

by Jose Salguero-Linares, Nuria S. Coll

Eukaryotes are endowed with sophisticated innate immune systems to recognize non-self and halt pathogen proliferation. Activation of cell death at the site of attempted pathogen ingress is a common strategy used by plants and animals to restrict pathogen proliferation and trigger immune responses in the surrounding tissues. As such, immunogenic cell death shares several features in both plants and animals that will be discussed in this article, namely: (i) it is triggered by activation of NLR immune receptors—often through oligomerization; (ii) it results in disruption of the plasma membrane (PM)/endomembrane integrity driving an imbalance in ion fluxes; and (iii) it results in the release of signaling molecules from dying cells.