The warfare beneath jasmonate signaling between the pathogenic intruder and host plant: Who wins?

Plants and microbial pathogens often engage in a fierce war that determines their survival. Host plants have evolved sophisticated regulatory mechanisms to fine-tune defense responses to counter attacks from pathogens, while pathogens often hijack a lipid-derived phytohormone jasmonate (JA) to cause hormonal signaling imbalances for efficient infection. This review focuses on the warfare beneath JA signaling between host plants and pathogenic intruders, and further discusses approaches to uncouple plant growth and defense tradeoffs in crop breeding.