Groovy times: filamentous pathogen effectors revealed.

Filamentous microorganisms, such as fungi and oomycetes, secrete an arsenal of effector proteins that modulate plant innate immunity and enable parasitic infection. Deciphering the biochemical activities of effectors to understand how pathogens successfully colonize and reproduce on their host plants became a driving paradigm in the field of fungal and oomycete pathology. Recent findings illustrate a diversity of effector structures and activities, as well as validate the view that effector genes are the target of the evolutionary forces that drive the antagonistic interplay between pathogen and host.