title: What lies beneath: belowground defense strategies in plants.
abstract: Diseases caused by soil-borne pathogens result worldwide in significant yield losses in economically important crops. In contrast to foliar diseases, relatively little is known about the nature of root defenses against these pathogens. This review summarizes the current knowledge on root infection strategies, root-specific preformed barriers, pathogen recognition, and defense signaling. Studies reviewed here suggest that many commonalities as well as differences exist in defense strategies employed by roots and foliar tissues during pathogen attack. Importantly, in addition to pathogens, plant roots interact with a plethora of non-pathogenic and symbiotic microorganisms. Therefore, a good understanding of how plant roots interact with the microbiome would be particularly important to engineer resistance to root pathogens without negatively altering root-beneficial microbe interactions.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium; Department of Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Technologiepark 927, 9052 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Coninck
authors.affiliation: Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Timmermans
authors.affiliation: Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium; Department of Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Technologiepark 927, 9052 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vos
authors.affiliation: Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium; Department of Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Technologiepark 927, 9052 Gent, Belgium. Electronic address: bruno.cammue@biw.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Bruno P A
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Cammue
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Agriculture Flagship, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, Brisbane, Queensland, 4067, Australia; Queensland Alliance for Agriculture & Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4067, Australia.
authors.forename: Kemal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kazan
mesh_terms: D005658:Fungi / Q000502:physiology*; D009868:Oomycetes / Q000502:physiology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology*; D058441:Rhizosphere; D012988:Soil Microbiology
keywords: Arabidopsis; effectors; rhizosphere; root defenses; soil-borne pathogens