Resistance (ecology)

Biology

Gene

Hypersensitive response

Ecology

Pathogen

Immunology

Plant disease resistance

Genetics

Immune system

Molecular Plant Pathology

Summary The hypersensitive defence response is found in all higher plants and is characterized by a rapid cell death at the point of pathogen ingress. It is usually associated with pathogen resistance, though, in specific situations, it may have other consequences such as pathogen susceptibility, growth retardation and, over evolutionary timescales, speciation. Due to the potentially severe costs of inappropriate activation, plants employ multiple mechanisms to suppress inappropriate activation of HR and to constrain it after activation. The ubiquity of this response among higher plants despite its costs suggests that it is an extremely effective component of the plant immune system.

The plant hypersensitive response: concepts, control and consequences