Fig. 6: The divergent evolution of effectors.
From: Prediction of effector protein structures from fungal phytopathogens enables evolutionary analyses
a, The proposed evolution of a phytopathogen from an ancestral non-phytopathogenic species and the emergence of effector families from ancestral proteins. A protein that was present in the ancestral species undergoes a duplication event. A paralogue rapidly diverges and loses sequence similarity to the other paralogue. Such processes occur repeatedly, leading to contemporary protein groups that are not related by their sequences. b, The evolution of SUSS effectors. The proteins exist in a structurally confined space. Through rapid divergence and duplications, SUSS effector groups emerge, occupying a novel sequence-confined space that may have distinct functions or roles.
