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News Release 10-125
Study Reveals a Secret to the Success of Notorious, Disease-Causing Microbes
This discovery may generate new strategies to fight serious human diseases, and devastating plant blights--including the type of blight involved in the Irish Potato Blight.
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Oomycetes and fungi infect plant, animal and sometimes even human cells by secreting a protein called an effector protein into the spaces between the host's cells. This secreted effector binds to a lipid raft on the surface of a host cell and rides the raft into the cell. Once inside the cell, the invading effector disables the host's immune system.
Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation
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