In order to obtain nutrients from plants for survival and reproduction, phytopathogenic bacteria interfere with and disrupt many plant functions. Interactions between plants and bacteria and their final outcomes are tightly controlled at the molecular level by both organisms. During their coevolution, pathogenic bacteria and plants have evolved various mechanisms to increase their pathogenicity or resistance, respectively. The purpose of this review is to shed light on the different stages where interactions between plants and bacteria take place, how plants respond at each stage, and how bacteria can evade plant responses. Advances in molecular and cellular biology, genomics, and bioinformatics have revealed different elements in this continuous interplay. The successful use of molecular elements to produce plants resistant to a particular disease or showing broad-spectrum resistance to different bacterial strains/species has already been demonstrated in many horticultural and field crops.
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