{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.03331350386674598, 'fraction_numerical': 0.02379535990481856, 'mean_word_length': 5.544747081712062, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
On the Inside

In order to cause disease and suppress host defense responses, gram-negative bacterial pathogens deliver effector proteins into host cells via the type III secretion system. Plant pathogenic bacteria typically deliver a large number (20–40) of effector types into host cells during infection. Progress in understanding individual effectors’ contributions to virulence has been made by generating transgenic plants that express effectors. HopQ1 (for Hrp outer protein Q), an effector from a virulent Pseudomonas syringae strain that causes bacterial speck on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) is the subject of two contributions in this issue. Li et al. (pp. 2062–2074) investigated the virulence function and host targets of HopQ1 in tomato. They demonstrate that HopQ1 enhances bacterial virulence and associates with tomato 14-3-3 proteins in a phosphorylationdependent manner. 14-3-3 proteins are a family of conserved regulatory molecules that have the ability to bind a multitude of functionally diverse signaling proteins, including kinases, phosphatases, and transmembrane receptors. (The name “14-3-3” refers to the particular elution and migration pattern of these proteins on DEAE-cellulose chromatography and starch-gel electrophoresis.) The results of this study indicate that phosphorylation and subsequent interaction with tomato 14-3-3 proteins affects HopQ1’s virulence-promoting activities and subcellular localization. In an equally meritorious study, Giska et al. (pp. 2049–2061) draw similar conclusions based on their studies of another virulent P. syringae strain that infects tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana).