Gene

Cell biology

Biotechnology

Biology

Yield (engineering)

Metallurgy

Materials science

Pathogen

Immunity

Plant Immunity

Genetics

Crop

Arabidopsis

Immune system

Mutant

Agronomy

Transcription factor

Plant growth

Science

Flexible growth and immune responses in rice Plants that are fighting microbial pathogens often divert resources that could be used for growth into the immune response. For crops, this translates into lower yield when plant immunity is activated. Wang et al. show that, in rice, reversible phosphorylation of a key transcription factor allows the plant to defend against fungal attack when needed but then, within days, reallocate resources back to growth (see the Perspective by Greene and Dong). Thus, both pathogen defense and crop yield can be sustained. Science , this issue p. 1026 ; see also p. 976

A single transcription factor promotes both yield and immunity in rice