Trick or treat: pathogens hijack host sugar metabolism
Besides suppressing immunity, pathogen effectors hijack host biosynthetic pathways, sugar transporters, enzymes, and transcriptional regulators for nutritional gain. In Xanthomonas, AvrBs2 drives de novo nutrient synthesis from a host metabolite, while PthA4 hijacks fruit ripening to release sugars. These findings pave the way for ‘anti-nutrition’ approaches for durable crop resistance.
