Alessia Del Chiaro

This study shows autophagy coordinates cell-type-specific immunity in plants by modulating immune responses in guard cells and mesophyll cells during Pseudomonas syringae infection.

The paper shows that different ATG8 isoforms in Arabidopsis have specialized functions in autophagy, as demonstrated by a mutant lacking all nine isoforms and complementation experiments.

This study identifies a vacuolar quality control pathway in plants that uses ATG8ylation to protect vacuolar integrity following cell wall damage.