The current GO definition of apoptosis is: “”A form of PCD induced by external or internal signals that trigger the activity of proteolytic caspases, whose actions dismantle the cell and result in cell death. Apoptosis begins internally with the condensation and subsequent fragmentation of the cell nucleus (blebbing) while the plasma membrane remains intact…”" [16]. As is true of all GO terms, it is likely that this definition will evolve as our understanding of apoptosis advances. Apoptosis frequently but inaccurately has been used as a synonym of PCD in the literature, creating confusion. This may be in part because apoptosis is also known as type Selleckchem ARRY-438162 I programmed cell death, but caution must be exercised to avoid inaccurate

synonymous usage [15,17]. In the GO it is placed as a child term of “”GO: 0012501 programmed cell death”", reflecting the fact that it is considered a type of PCD. The hypersensitive response (HR) Plants possess both a basal immune system, which recognizes microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs, sometimes called PAMPs in the context of pathogens), and resistance gene (R-gene)-encoded proteins that can recognize pathogen gene products (reviewed in

[18]), resulting in the activation of defenses. Selleckchem VS-4718 One form of plant defense is known as the hypersensitive response (HR). During the HR, reactive oxygen intermediates [19] and ion fluxes (Ca2+in particular [20]) lead to cell death, which is associated with defense activation and restriction of the pathogen [21,22]. The HR also initiates complex intracellular signalling that leads to transcription of defense genes [23]. HR is described in the GO as “”GO: 0009626 plant-type hypersensitive response”" and defined as “”the rapid, localized death of plant cells in response to invasion by a pathogen”" [1]. There are many parallels between plant-type HR and animal apoptosis, including the common features of CP673451 clinical trial chromatin condensation, activation of cysteine proteases, cytochromecrelease, loss of membrane potential delta psi, and cytoplasmic

shrinkage (reviewed in [4,24,25]). Yet there are Loperamide significant differences. ATP dependence, nuclear shrinking, and engulfment by neighbouring cells are associated with animal apoptosis but not with plant HR. Vacuolization and mitochondrial swelling occur in plant HR but not animal apoptosis. Furthermore, DNA laddering, a common feature of animal apoptosis, is not always observed in plants [4,24]. Despite these differences, it is clear that diverse groups of host organisms use largely similar approaches to halt the spread of infectious pathogens. Precisely distinguishing among the various modes of cell death remains an active ongoing topic [26–28], as does assigning corresponding GO terms to those modes. A great deal of recent work has focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying various kinds of cell death [29], including mitochondrial fusion and fission machinery [30].