Oryza sativa extracellular vesicles proteins

Cross-kingdom molecular exchange between hosts and interacting microbes is essential for the survival of both plants and their pathogens. Recent studies showed plants transfer their small RNAs (sRNAs) and massager RNAs (mRNAs) into fungal pathogens to suppress infection. However, whether and how plants send defense proteins into pathogen cells remains unknown. Here, we show that rice plants send defense proteins into the fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia solani via extracellular vesicles (EVs). These vesicles enrich host defense proteins and are taken up by the fungal cells. Reducing EV-mediated host protein transfer leads to increased disease susceptibility. Thus, plants send defense proteins via EVs into fungal pathogens to combat infection, providing a mechanism of protein exchange between plants and pathogens that helps reduce crop disease.