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Title: Host-pathogen wars: New weapons from biotechnology and genomics

Author
item DASILVA, MYCHELE - University Of Georgia
item Davis, Richard
item PATERSON, ANDREW - University Of Georgia
item SMITH, SHAVANNOR - University Of Georgia
item SUASSUNA, NELSON - Embrapa
item CHEE, PENG - University Of Georgia

Submitted to: American Journal of Plant Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/2019
Publication Date: 3/11/2019
Citation: Dasilva, M., Davis, R.F., Paterson, A.H., Smith, S.M., Suassuna, N.D., Chee, P.W. 2019. Host-pathogen wars: New weapons from biotechnology and genomics. American Journal of Plant Sciences. 10:402-416. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2019.103029.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2019.103029

Interpretive Summary: Plant pathogens are imminent threats to crop production. Among the management tools available to protect crops from diseases, the use of host-plant resistance had been hindered by a lack of tools and resources to identify resistance genes (R-genes). Genomic technologies have improved the acquisition of a new level and quality of information on plant-pathogen interactions. The emergence of new genomic tools such as the draft genome sequence of crop plants and their pathogens and the new gene editing tools are offering additional avenues for researchers to explore new approaches to discovering and incorporating host-plant resistance for plant improvement. Next generation sequencing, differential transcriptome analysis, gene editing, and the use of bioinformatics have greatly expanded the numbers of resistance genes (R-genes) identified and enriched our understanding of resistance-avirulence gene interactions and disease diagnosis. The rapid declines in cost of new technology, together with continually expanding capabilities, promise a rich yield of new discoveries salient to mitigation of plant disease. Faster pathogen diagnosis methods can help both farmers and researchers and will lead to improvement of diseases management strategies. In this paper, we highlight the application of genomic technologies to the identification of pathogen machinery for future improvement of host plant resistance.

Technical Abstract: Pathogens are imminent threats to crop production. Among the management tools available to protect crops from diseases, the use of host-plant resistance had been hindered by a lack of tools and resources to identify resistance genes (R-genes). Genomic technologies have empowered acquisition of a new level and quality of information on plant-pathogen interactions. Next generation sequencing, differential transcriptome analysis, gene editing, and use of bioinformatics have greatly expanded the numbers of R-genes identified, enriched understanding of R-avirulence gene interactions, and disease diagnosis. In this review, we highlight the application of genomic technologies to identification of pathogen machinery for future improvement of host plant resistance.