How can defense-related programmed cell death be distinguished from other types of cell death?
Distinguishing the specific process leading to visually-scored cell death can be difficult, particularly when deciding whether to annotate to GO:0034055: positive regulation by symbiont of host defense-related programmed cell death or its more general parent term, GO:0001907 : killing by symbiont of host cells. Data considered while making this distinction include the presence of resistance genes in the host known to recognize the effector in question, impact of the effector on symbiont growth, and additional genetic factors present in the symbiont. Levels of effector in the host are also considered, given that overexpression may lead to non-specific cell death. Consequently, effector and helper genes have been annotated to the term GO:0034055: positive regulation by symbiont of host defense-related programmed cell death when host cell death is observed upon delivery of the effector or helper by the Type III secretion system.
