Abstract
Plants have an excellent mechanism for responding to pathogen invasion by specific and inducible defense reactions, which is often apparent as the so-called hypersensitive reaction (HR). The molecular dissection of the mechanism of HR is difficult since the biological system involves intricate interactions between plant and pathogen. A simplified system, in which suspension-cultured plant cells are synchronously challenged with a single molecular inducer of HR, elicitor, would greatly facilitate studies of the molecular mechanism of HR. Several components involved in elicitor signaling have recently been identified and characterized using the experimental system.
