Immune systems in plants

In a review article due to be published in the journal Developmental & Comparative Immunology John M. McDowell and Stacey A. Simona looked at "plant-pathogen interface" and found notable similarities and differences between the molecular immune responses of plants and (metazoan) animals. They concluded that

It now seems clear that plants and animals have independently adopted many of the same protein modules for immune surveillance. Many interesting mechanistic and evolutionary parallels are evident upon comparison of immune surveillance in plants and animals, and we look forward to productive, “cross-species” dialog between animal and plant immunologists in the years to come.

McDowell, J.M. and Simona, S.A. 2008. Molecular diversity at the plant–pathogen interface. Developmental & Comparative Immunology doi:10.1016/j.dci.2007.11.005