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Lectins and their role in host-pathogen specificity.

A universal requirement for survival of all living forms is the capacity to recognize the difference between "self' and "nonself." Tolerance of "self' and rejection of the "nonself' forms are common phenomena and, at the cellular level, appear to depend on the interaction of surface components of the organisms that come in contact. In plants, for instance, the process of fertilization is dependent on an exquisitely balanced process in which foreign pollen is rejected and that from the appropriate species is accepted; even the plant's own pollen may not be able to germinate or penetrate the stigmatic surfaces in those instances where self-incompatibility systems force cross-fertilization (45). It is not surprising that plants appear to have adopted similar recognition mechanisms to reject the vast majority of mi­ croorganisms with which they interact. This important line of defense is circumvented only in relatively few instances by plant pathogens. A high degree of specificity has resulted through co-evolution of host and pathogen, but we are as yet unable to define the biochemical mechanisms that are involved. The purpose of this review is to bring into focus the information that is available on the biochemistry of recognition phenomena between plants and microorganisms, in the hope that this will help us in the interpre­ tation of the phenomenon of specificity. The basic tenets of an analysis of specificity are that (a) specificity is dependent on recognition, (b) recognition is established by the interaction of complementary macromolecules present at the surfaces of the two organ­ isms that come in contact, and (c) recognition results in a host response that either prevents or facilitates multiplication of the potential pathogen. Most of the emphasis has been placed on the first two components, perhaps because they are more amenable to investigation.