of floral organs is altered in the morphologically affected floral organs of phytoplasma-infected plants. A phytoplasma infection often triggers leaf yellowing, probably due to the presence of phytoplasma cells in phloem, which can affect phloem function and carbohydrate transport, inhibit chlorophyll biosynthesis, and trigger chlorophyll breakdown. These symptoms may be attributable to stress caused by the infection rather than a specific pathogenetic process. Many phytoplasma-infected plants develop a bushy or "witches' broom" appearance due to changes in their normal growth patterns. Most plants exhibit apical dominance but infection can trigger the proliferation of axillary (side) shoots and a reduction in internode size. Such symptoms are actually useful in the commercial production of poinsettias. Infection triggers more axillary shoot production; the poinsettia plants thus produce more than a single flower. Effector (virulence) proteins Many plant pathogens produce virulence factors (i.e., effectors) that modulate or interfere with normal host processes to the benefit of the pathogens. In 2009, a secreted protein, termed “tengu-su inducer” (TENGU; ), was identified from a phytoplasma causing yellowing of onions; this was the first phytoplasmal virulence factor to be described. TENGU induces characteristic symptoms (termed “tengu-su”), including witches' broom and dwarfism. Transgenic expression of TENGU in Arabidopsis plants induced sterility in male and female flowers. TENGU contains a signal peptide at its N-terminus; after cleavage, the mature protein is only 38 amino acids in length. Although phytoplasmas are restricted to phloem, TENGU is transported from phloem to other cells, including those of the apical and axillary meristems. TENGU was suggested to inhibit both auxin- and jasmonic acid-related pathways, thereby affecting plant development. Surprisingly, the N-terminal 11 amino acid region of the mature protein triggers symptom development in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. TENGU undergoes proteolytic processing by a plant serine protease in vivo, suggesting that the N-terminal peptide (i.e., the 11 amino acid fragment) alone induces the observed symptoms. TENGU homologs have been identified in AY-group phytoplasmas. All such homologs undergo processing and can induce symptoms, suggesting that the symptom-inducing mechanism is conserved among TENGU homologs. In 2009, 56 genes for secreted proteins were identified in the genome of aster yellows witches' broom phytoplasma strain (AY-WB); these were named secreted AY-WB proteins (SAPs) and considered effectors. Also in 2009, effector SAP11 was shown to target plant cell nuclei and unload from phloem cells in AY-WB-infected plants. SAP11 was found to induce stem proliferations and changes of leaf shapes of