Plants and plant pathogens are subject to continuous co-evolutionary pressure for dominance, and the outcomes of these interactions can substantially impact agriculture and food security^ 1–3 . In virus– plant interactions, one of the major mechanisms for plant antiviral immunity relies on RNA silencing, which is often suppressed by co-evolving virus suppressors, thus enhancing viral pathogenicity in susceptibl...
The NSP-interacting kinase, NIK, belongs to the five leucine-rich repeats-containing receptor-like serine/threonine kinase subfamily that includes members involved in plant development and defence. NIK was first identified by its capacity to interact with the geminivirus nuclear shuttle protein (NSP) and has been strongly associated with plant defence against geminivirus. Recent studies corroborate its function...