Background

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are secreted by both plants and fungal pathogens to deliver various types of cargo, enabling inter-species communication. A key category of cargo in EVs includes nucleic acids, such as small RNAs (sRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs). sRNAs have been found to be utilized by both plants and fungal pathogens to suppress gene expression in recipient cells, a process known as cross-kingdom RNA interference (RNAi). Plant-derived mRNAs have also been detected in EVs, where they are delivered to fungal cells and translated into proteins, ultimately suppressing fungal virulence. Since the study of EVs in both plants and fungal pathogens is still in its early stages, many questions remain unanswered.