Abstract text: Plant cell walls (PCWs) act as physical barriers and reservoirs of signaling molecules. During infection, Zymoseptoria tritici, a latent necrotrophic wheat pathogen, secretes a diverse set of cell wall-degrading enzymes to hydrolyze PCW polymers. This process releases immunogenic oligosaccharides that trigger plant immunity, counteracting pathogen invasion. To date, the strategies evolved by pathogens to suppress the accumulation of such elicitors during infection remain mostly elusive. In this work, we characterize ZtABF1, an alpha-L-arabinofuranosidase essential for virulence that is expressed during the latent phase of infection. We found that exogenous application of the ZtABF1 substrate protects wheat against infection, while its product is not recognized by the host and fails to induce resistance. Biochemical and molecular genetic analyses demonstrate that ZtABF1 possesses a dual role: (i) it facilitates nutrient acquisition and (ii) degrades immune-activating oligosaccharides to prevent host recognition. These findings establish ZtABF1 as a key virulence factor that simultaneously exploits host resources and suppresses wheat immunity through the precise modification of PCW-derived elicitors.