Molecular Aspects Of Plant Pathogen Interaction

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.

Molecular Aspects of Plant Beneficial Microbes in Agriculture explores their diverse interactions, including the pathogenic and symbiotic relationship which leads to either a decrease or increase in crop productivity. Focusing on these environmentally-friendly approaches, the book explores their potential in changing climatic conditions. It presents the exploration and regulation of beneficial microbes in offering sustainable and alternative solutions to the use of chemicals in agriculture. The beneficial microbes presented here are capable of contributing to nutrient balance, growth regulators, suppressing pathogens, orchestrating immune response and improving crop performance. The book also offers insights into the advancements in DNA technology and bioinformatic approaches which have provided in-depth knowledge about the molecular arsenal involved in mineral uptake, nitrogen fixation, growth promotion and biocontrol attributes.

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.

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.

Studies of the interactions between plants and their viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens are of major importance in plant and crop production. More than 10% of potential agricultural yield is lost to these organisms annually worldwide, and major epidemics can cause significant local economic and environmental damage. Molecular Plant Pathology addresses the underlying molecular principles of plant/pathogen interactions, in a readily-accessible textbook format.

This book covers all aspects of naturally occurring phenomenon of Plant-Pathogen Interaction (PPI). Recent findings and scientific explanations to understand PPI are provided accompanied by numerous helpful photographs and pictorial presentations. In addition, tabulated data is also included to aid in getting insight into the subject and identifying the missing links. Essential information is provided on physiological, biochemical and pathology consequences of PPI and distinguished sections are devoted to explain molecular and regulatory mechanism underlying PPI. Further topics include different classes of plant pathogen, receptor molecules, signaling system, secondary metabolism and plant defense system etc. This book helps the readers in understanding the state of art and emerging technics to explore PPI and in identifying the missing links which further help in creating the background for future exploration of PPI in terms of experimental and technical advancements.

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.

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.

Research on the interactions of plants and phytopathogenic fungi has become one of the most interesting and rapidly moving fields in the plant sciences, the findings of which have contributed tremendously to the development of new strategies of plant protection. This book offers insight into the state of present knowledge. Special emphasis is placed on recognition phenomena between plants and fungi, parasitization strategies employed by the phytopathogenic fungi, the action of phytotoxins, the compatibility of pathogens with host plants and the basic resistance of non-host plants as well as cultivar-specific resistance of host plants. Special attention is paid to the gene-for-gene hypothesis for the determination of race-specific resistance, its molecular models and to the nature of race non-specific resistance as well as the population dynamics of plants and the evolution of their basic resistance.

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.