Biology And Molecular Biology Of Plant Pathogen Interactions

This book is a collection of papers presented at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "Biology and Molecular Biology of Plant-Pathogen Interactions" which was held at Dillington College, Ilminster, UK, 1-6 September 1985. It had been preceded by Advanced Study Institutes at Porte Conte, Sardinia in 1975 and at Cape Sounion, Greece in 1981. In recent years, methods for the manipulation and transfer of genes have revolutionized our understanding of gene structure and function. It was thus opportune to bring together scientists from distinct disciplines, e. g. plant pathology, cytology, biochemistry and molecular biology to discuss our present understanding of cellular interactions between plants. We also explored how the potential offered by the newer molecular technologies could best be realized. It soon became evident at the Workshop, and is a repeated theme of this publication, that future research will need concentrated multi disciplinary programmes. Many of the new approaches will be valuable. For example, immunocytochemistry does, for the first time, allow molecules to be located precisely within infected tissues. Equally, the methods of DNA isolation and gene transformation will facilitate the isolation and characterization of genes associated with pathogenesis and specificity. The description at the Workshop of immunocytochemical protocols and of transformation systems for pathogenic fungi have already stimulated an upsurge in research on plant-pathogen relationships. The papers discuss many interactions between plants and fungal and bacterial pathogens, but also provide a comparison with mycorrhizal and symbiotic relationships, and those involving mycoparasites.

Plants are exposed to highly diverse microbiota forming complex interactions in natural environments. Phytomycology and Molecular Biology of Plant Pathogen Interactions presents information on defense mechanisms of the plants, as various microbes can have positive effects on their plant hosts. Key Features Delineates the journey from Koch’s postulate to molecular systems biology. Provides comprehensive information on fungal biology, pathogenicity genes, and their expression while interacting with host plants. Highlights the techniques and approaches involved in phytofungi identification and detection. Describes multi-omics approaches and metabolic engineering in plant fungi. This book is beneficial to readers including plant scientists and researchers, particularly plant pathologists, molecular biologists, and mycologists.

Studies on molecular biology of pathogens, infection process and disease resistance, have provided information essentially required to understand the vulnerable stages at which the pathogens can be tackled effectively and to adopt novel strategies to incorporate disease resistance genes from diverse sources and /or to induce resistance of cultivars with desirable agronomic attributes using biotic or abiotic agents. The nature of interaction between the gene products of the pathogen and plant appears to determine the outcome of the interaction resulting in either disease progression or suppression. Transgenic plants with engineered genes show promise for effective exploitation of this approach for practical application. Research efforts during the recent years to sequence the whole genomes of the pathogens and plants may lead to development of better ways of manipulating disease resistance mechanisms enabling the grower to achieve higher production levels and the consumer to enjoy safer food and agricultural products. Experimental protocols included in appropriate chapters will be useful for researchers and graduate students.

Plant diseases are destructive and threaten virtually any crop grown on a commercial scale. They are kept in check by plant breeding strategies that have introgressed disease resistance genes into many important crops, and by the deployment of costly control measures, such as antibiotics and fungicides. However, the capacity for the agents of plant disease - viruses, bacteria, fungi, and oomycetes - to adapt to new conditions, overcoming disease resistance and becoming resistant to pesticides, is very great. For these reasons, understanding the biology of plant diseases is essential for the development of durable control strategies. Plant-Pathogen Interactions provides and overview of our current knowledge of plant-pathogen interactions and the establishment of plant disease, drawing together fundamental new information on plant infection mechanisms and host responses. The role of molecular signals, gene regulation, and the physiology of pathogenic organisms are emphasized, but the role of the prevailing environment in the conditioning of disease is also discussed. Emphasizing the broader understanding that has emerged from the use of molecular genetics and genomics, Plant-Pathogen Interactions highlights those interactions that have been most widely studied and those in which genome information has provided a new level of understanding.

Investigations on various aspects of plant-pathogen interactions have the ultimate aim of providing information that may be useful for the development of effective crop disease management systems. Molecular techniques have accelerated the formulation of short- and long-term strategies of disease management. Exclusion and eradication of plant pathogens by rapid and precise detection and identification of microbial pathogens in symptomatic and asymptomatic plants and planting materials by employing molecular methods has been practiced extensively by quarantines and certification programs with a decisive advantage. Identification of sources of resistance genes, cloning and characterization of desired resistance genes and incorporation of resistance gene(s) into cultivars and transformation of plants with selected gene(s) have been successfully performed by applying appropriate molecular techniques. Induction of resistance in susceptible cultivars by using biotic and abiotic inducers of resistance is a practical proposition for several crops whose resistance levels could not be improved by breeding or transformation procedures. The risks of emergence of pathogen strains less sensitive or resistant to chemicals have been reduced appreciably by rapid identification of resistant strains and monitoring the occurrence of such strains in different geographical locations.

The field of the molecular basis of plant disease is rapidly developing. The nineteen chapters of current information in Molecular Strategies of Pathogens and Host Plants are written by well known experts in the United States and Japan, and cover recent progress in the genetics and molecular biology of bacteria and fungi which are pathogens of plants. This research emphasizes the genes which are responsible for production of toxins, enzymes, and hormones that lead to pathogenicity and specificity in plant-pathogen interactions. Several chapters also examine the biochemistry of the plant's response to microbial attack.

Contains the proceedings of an international symposium on plant-pathogen interactions, covering a broad range of topics of particular relevance to food production - from the cucumber mosaic virus to the molecular responses of the potato to infection.

The book offers an integrated overview of plant–pathogen interactions. It discusses all the steps in the pathway, from the microbe–host-cell interface and the plant’s recognition of the microbe to the plant’s defense response and biochemical alterations to achieve tolerance / resistance. It also sheds light on the classes of pathogens (bacteria, fungus and viruses); effector molecules, such as PAMPs; receptor molecules like PRRs and NBS-LRR proteins; signaling components like MAPKs; regulatory molecules, such as phytohormones and miRNA; transcription factors, such as WRKY; defense-related proteins such as PR-proteins; and defensive metabolites like secondary metabolites. In addition, it examines the role of post-genomics, high-throughput technology (transcriptomics and proteomics) in studying pathogen outbreaks causing crop losses in a number of plants. Providing a comprehensive picture of plant-pathogen interaction, the updated information included in this book is valuable for all those involved in crop improvement.