Wake of the flood: ascribing functions to the wave of type III effector proteins of phytopathogenic bacteria

Plant pathogenic bacteria use waves of type III effector proteins, delivered into the eukaryotic host cell, to modulate the host cell for the pathogen's benefit. This is evidenced by the flood of effector genes that have recently been uncovered from the genome sequence of several plant pathogenic bacteria. However, pathogens are unwilling to easily reveal the mechanisms by which these effectors function. Nevertheless, persistent scrutiny has led to the successful characterization of a handful of effectors and it is beginning to provide insights into how phytopathogenic bacteria cause disease on their hosts.