Andrea Restrepo-Escobar

RDA2, a lectin receptor-like kinase, directly phosphorylates conserved 30K viral movement proteins to control their plasmodesmal targeting and restrict cell-to-cell viral spread in plants.

This study investigates Xoo morphology changes during in vitro growth and rice leaf infection, finding filamentous forms aid in tissue invasion while rod-shaped cells facilitate vascular movement.

The paper identifies FG-nucleoporins (FG-NUPs) at plasmodesmata (PD) using bioinformatics, proteomics, and imaging, suggesting a potential role in intercellular transport.