Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 21, 2025

Using Ustilago maydis as a Trojan Horse for In Situ Delivery of Maize Proteins
Published on: February 8, 2019
Plant extracellular vesicles: Trojan horses of cross-kingdom warfare
Baoye He1, Rachael Hamby1, Hailing Jin1
1Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology Center for Plant Cell Biology Institute for Integrative Genome Biology University of California Riverside CA USA.
Abstract:
Plants communicate with their interacting microorganisms through the exchange of functional molecules. This communication is critical for plant immunity, for pathogen virulence, and for establishing and maintaining symbioses. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid bilayer-enclosed spheres that are released by both the host and the microbe into the extracellular environment. Emerging evidence has shown that EVs play a prominent role in plant-microbe interactions by safely transporting functional molecules, such as proteins and RNAs to interacting organisms. Recent studies revealed that plant EVs deliver fungal gene-targeting small RNAs into fungal pathogens to suppress infection via cross-kingdom RNA interference (RNAi). In this review, we focus on the recent advances in our understanding of plant EVs and their role in plant-microbe interactions.
Related Concept Videos
Subviral Agents
Plasmodesmata
Intracellular Movement of Viruses and Bacteria
Receptor-mediated Endocytosis
Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis of LDL
One well-characterized example of receptor-mediated endocytosis is the...
The Apoplast and Symplast
Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores

