Research advances in plant–insect molecular interaction

Acute and precise signal perception and transduction are essential for plant defense against insects. Insect elicitors—that is, the biologically active molecules from insects’ oral secretion (which contains regurgitant and saliva), frass, ovipositional fluids, and the endosymbionts—are recognized by plants and subsequently induce a local or systematic defense response. On the other hand, insects secrete various types of effectors to interfere with plant defense at multiple levels for better adaptation. Jasmonate is a main regulator involved in plant defense against insects and integrates with multiple pathways to make up the intricate defense network. Jasmonate signaling is strictly regulated in plants to avoid the hypersensitive defense response and seems to be vulnerable to assault by insect effectors at the same time. Here, we summarize recently identified elicitors, effectors, and their target proteins in plants and discuss their underlying molecular mechanisms.