Fig. 7.

A working model for the role of Avr-Pita in regulating defense responses in rice. The PRR on the rice plasma membrane perceives PAMP molecules from the fungal pathogen (M. oryzae) and activates PTI resulting in a ROS burst and HR to stop microbial invasion (left). In M. oryzae isolates carrying the effector Avr-Pita (right), this effector is secreted from M. oryzae and delivered into rice cells. There, Avr-Pita targets the host mitochondria and binds to OsCOX11 to promote COX activity, thereby decreasing ROS accumulation, resulting in reduced resistance to M. oryzae