Cell-Cycle Regulators and Cell Death in Immunity.

Various cell death mechanisms are integral to host defense in both plants and mammals. Plant defense against biotrophic pathogens is associated with programmed cell death (PCD) of the infected cell. This effector-triggered PCD is partly analogous to pyroptosis, an inflammatory host cell death process that plays a crucial role in defense against microbial infections in mammals. Plant effector-triggered PCD also shares with mammalian apoptosis the involvement of cell-cycle regulators as signaling components. Here we explore the similarities between these different cell death programs as they relate to host defense and their relationship to the cell cycle.