The emerging role of autophagy in plant pathogen attack and host defence.

Autophagy is emerging as an important process in plant infection by pathogenic fungi, which develop differentiated infection cells to breach the plant cuticle. Conversely, autophagic processes are also important in the defence responses of plants that are able to perceive and react to invading pathogens. The pivotal role of autophagy in both fungal pathogenesis and disease resistance is linked to its function in the regulation of programmed cell death which is a key component of plant immunity responses and fungal infection-related development.