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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Washington, D.C. » National Arboretum » Floral and Nursery Plants Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #308384
Title: Disease resistance: Molecular mechanisms and biotechnological applications

Author
item Kamo, Kathryn
item Lakshman, Dilip
item RATHORE, KEERTI - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Plant Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/22/2014
Publication Date: 11/15/2014
Citation: Kamo, K.K., Lakshman, D.K., Rathore, K. 2014. Disease resistance: Molecular mechanisms and biotechnological applications. Plant Science. 228:1-2.

Interpretive Summary: This special issue “Disease resistance: molecular mechanisms and biotechnological applications” contains 11 review articles and four original research papers. The topics covered are virus resistance, viroid resistance, and using high throughput sequencing to profile the small RNAs resulting from cherry rootstocks transformed for resistance to Prunus necrotic ring spot virus. Viruses and viroids cause diseases in many economically important crops. The two fungi, Rhizoctonia solani and Pythium, cause decreased yields in the four major staple food crops of the world, and a review article discusses strategies for enhanced resistance to these two fungi. The fungus Trichoderma is used as a biological control agent, and it secretes cerato-platanins as reviewed. An update on breeding roses for disease resistance is presented. Introduction of a wheat oxalate gene into American chestnuts is described for successful enhancement of resistance to Chestnut blight. Reviews covering plant pattern-triggered immunity, salicylic acid signaling, and antimicrobial peptides expand our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in disease resistance in plants.

Technical Abstract: This special issue “Disease resistance: molecular mechanisms and biotechnological applications” contains 11 review articles and four original research papers. Research in the area of engineering for disease resistance continues to progress although only 10% of the transgenic plants registered for field trials are engineered for disease resistance. As the number of chemical pesticides that are banned is increasing due to environmental and health concerns, transgenic plants with disease resistance genes are anticipated to become an important alternative.