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News Release 05-083
Plant Sacrifices Cells to Fight Invaders
Gene ensures programmed cell suicide does not go unchecked
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Plants use programmed cell death (PCD) to create a protective zone of dead cells (brown) around the site of pathogen invasion (purple). The dead plant cells do not support viral growth and lose their interconnectedness, thereby halting the pathogen's spread.
Credit: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation
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Normally, when programmed cell death (PCD) is initiated in response to viral infection, cell death is restricted to infection sites that appear here as yellow spots (left). When the "pro-survival" signal is inactivated in the plant, the PCD response continues unchecked, resulting in extensive plant tissue damage (right).
Credit: Michael Schiff and S. Dinesh-Kumar, MCDB, Yale University
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