The recognition of cellular damage caused by either pathogens or abiotic stress is essential for host defense in all forms of life in the plant and animal kingdoms. The NOD-like receptors (NLRs) represent a large family of multidomain proteins that were initially discovered for their role in host defense in plants and vertebrates. Over recent years the wide distribution of NLRs among metazoans has become apparent and their origins have begun to emerge. Moreover, intense study of NLR function has shown that they play essential roles beyond pathogen recognition – in the regulation of antigen presentation, cell death, inflammation, and even in embryonic development. We summarize here the latest insights into NLR biology and discuss examples of converging and diverging evolution of NLR function and structure.

中文翻译：

---

NLR函数和结构的演化收敛与发散

识别由病原体或非生物胁迫引起的细胞损伤对于动植物界所有形式的宿主防御都是必不可少的。NOD样受体（NLRs）代表了一个大家族的多域蛋白，最初是由于它们在植物和脊椎动物的宿主防御中的作用而被发现的。近年来，NLR在后生动物中的广泛分布已变得显而易见，它们的起源也开始出现。此外，对NLR功能的深入研究表明，它们在病原体识别之外还起着至关重要的作用-在调节抗原呈递，细胞死亡，炎症，甚至在胚胎发育中。我们在这里总结了对NLR生物学的最新见解，并讨论了NLR功能和结构趋同和趋异的例子。