A systems biology perspective on plant-microbe interactions: Biochemical and structural targets of pathogen effectors

▶ Plant-microbe pathosystems are complex dynamic biological networks whose structure and behaviour differ from both plant and microbe in isolation. ▶ A network's structure dictates its dynamics and behaviour. This suggests that pathogen effectors will have evolved to target sensitive components of the host network, such as highly connected 'hubs'. Such targets can be predicted if enough is known about the system. ▶ Known results from a wide range of plant-microbe pathogen interactions are consistent with general principles arising from considering the plant host as a dynamic network, and other systems biology concepts. ▶ A state-based model framework is proposed for the integration of experiments with figurative and quantitative modelling of plant-microbe pathosystems.