The pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) response is triggered at the plant cell surface by the recognition of microbe-derived molecules known as microbe- or pathogen-associated molecular patterns or molecules derived from compromised host cells called damage-associated molecular patterns. Membrane-localized receptor proteins, known as pattern recognition receptors, are responsible for this recognition. Although much of the machinery of PTI is conserved, natural variation for the PTI response exists within and across species with respect to the components responsible for pattern recognition, activation of the response, and the strength of the response induced. This review describes what is known about this variation. We discuss how variation in the PTI response can be measured and how this knowledge might be utilized in the control of plant disease and in developing plant varieties with enhanced disease resistance.
Keywords: pattern‐triggered immunity; plant disease resistance.
© 2024 The Authors. Molecular Plant Pathology published by British Society for Plant Pathology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.