We present a novel lung aerosol exposure system named MALIES (modular air–liquid interface exposure system), which allows three-dimensional cultivation of lung epithelial cells in alveolar-like scaffolds (MatriGrids ® ) and exposure to nanoparticle aerosols. MALIES consists of multiple modular units for aerosol generation, and can be rapidly assembled and commissioned. The MALIES system was proven for its ability to reliably p...

Summary To avoid pathogen‐associated molecular pattern recognition, the hemibiotrophic maize pathogen Colletotrichum graminicola secretes proteins mediating the establishment of biotrophy. Targeted deletion of 26 individual candidate genes and seven gene clusters comprising 32 genes of C . graminicola identified a pathogenicity cluster ( CLU5 ) of five co‐linear genes, all of which, with the exception of CLU5b , encode secrete...