The members of the pathogenesis-related protein 1 (PR-1) family are among the most abundantly produced proteins in plants on pathogen attack, and PR-1 gene expression has long been used as a marker for salicylic acid-mediated disease resistance. However, despite considerable interest over several decades, their requirement and role in plant defence remains poorly understood. Recent reports have emerged demonstrating that PR-1 proteins possess sterol-binding activity, harbour an embedded defence signalling peptide, and are targeted by plant pathogens during host infection. These studies have re-energised the field and provided long-awaited insights into a possible PR-1 function. Here we review the current status of PR-1 proteins and discuss how these recent advances shed light on putative roles for these enigmatic proteins.

病程相关蛋白1（PR-1）家族的成员是植物中病原体侵害最丰富的蛋白之一，PR-1基因的表达长期以来一直被用作水杨酸介导的抗病性的标记。然而，尽管几十年来引起了极大的兴趣，但人们对其要求和在植物防御中的作用仍然知之甚少。最近的报道表明PR-1蛋白具有固醇结合活性，具有内嵌的防御信号肽，并且在宿主感染期间被植物病原体靶向。这些研究为该领域注入了新的活力，并为人们期望的PR-1功能提供了期待已久的见解。在这里，我们审查PR-1蛋白的当前状态，并讨论这些最新进展如何阐明这些神秘蛋白的假定作用。