Exploiting Broad-Spectrum Disease Resistance in Crops: From Molecular Dissection to Breeding

Plant diseases reduce crop yields and threaten global food security, making the selection of disease-resistant cultivars a major goal of crop breeding. Broad-spectrum resistance (BSR) is a desirable trait because it confers resistance against more than one pathogen species or against the majority of races or strains of the same pathogen. Many BSR genes have been cloned in plants and have been found to encode pattern recognition receptors, nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat receptors, and defense-signaling and pathogenesis-related proteins. In addition, the BSR genes that underlie quantitative trait loci, loss of susceptibility and nonhost resistance have been characterized. Here, we comprehensively review the advances made in the identification and characterization of BSR genes in various species and examine their application in crop breeding. We also discuss the challenges and their solutions for the use of BSR genes in the breeding of disease-resistant crops.

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Loss of susceptibility as a novel breeding strategy for durable and broad-spectrum resistance

Molecular Breeding ◽

10.1007/s11032-009-9323-6 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 154

Author(s):

Stefano Pavan ◽

Evert Jacobsen ◽

Richard G. F. Visser ◽

Yuling Bai

Keyword(s):

Broad Spectrum ◽

Breeding Strategy ◽

Broad Spectrum Resistance ◽

Loss Of Susceptibility

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Breeding for Disease Resistance in Brassica Vegetables Using DNA Marker Selection

10.5772/intechopen.96263 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mst Arjina Akter ◽

Hasan Mehraj ◽

Takeru Itabashi ◽

Tomoe Shindo ◽

Masaaki Osaka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fusarium Wilt ◽

Crop Production ◽

Asian Country ◽

Plant Diseases ◽

R Genes ◽

Global Food Security ◽

Resistant Cultivars ◽

Marker Selection ◽

Disease Resistant ◽

Brassica Vegetables

The Brassica genus comprises of agro-economically important vegetables. Disease causes great yield loss of Brassica vegetables worldwide. Different traditional methods such as crop rotation and chemical control have limited effect on different diseases of Brassica vegetables and cannot completely eradicate the pathogens by these methods. Development of disease resistant cultivars is one of the most effective, ecofriendly, and cheapest measure to control Brassica diseases. With the development of genomics, molecular biology techniques, and biological methods, it is possible to discover and introduce resistance (R) genes to efficiently control the plant diseases caused by pathogens. Some R genes of major diseases such as Fusarium wilt and clubroot in Brassica vegetables have been already identified. Therefore, we will focus to review the Fusarium wilt and clubroot resistance in Brassica vegetables and the methodologies for identification, mapping, and pyramiding of R genes/quantitative trait loci (QTLs) to develop disease resistant cultivars. These techniques will be helpful for sustainable crop production and to maintain global food security and contribute to ensure protection of food supply in the Asian country as well as throughout the world.

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Comparative transcriptomics reveal conserved modules of plant defence against different pathogens in Strawberry

10.1101/2020.06.07.138420 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Raghuram Badmi ◽

Arsheed Hussain Sheikh

Keyword(s):

Broad Spectrum ◽

Plant Defence ◽

Transcriptional Response ◽

Individual Plant ◽

Disease Resistant ◽

Resistant Varieties ◽

Core Set ◽

Pathogenesis Related ◽

Grey Mold ◽

Plant Pathogen Interactions

AbstractStrawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) is an economically important high-value crop that is susceptible to three most devastating pathogens with different lifestyles – a necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea causing grey mold, a hemibiotrophic oomycete Phytophthora cactorum causing crown/root rot, and a biotrophic fungus Podosphaera aphanis causing powdery mildew. Studies on individual plant-pathogen interactions are only sufficient for developing disease resistant strawberry varieties to a particular pathogen. However, each of these pathogens have the potential to co-infect strawberry at a given point of time. Therefore, understanding how these pathogens manipulate strawberry’s defences and how it responds to these pathogens is essential for developing broad-spectrum disease resistant varieties. Here, in the diploid model Fragaria vesca, we performed comparative transcriptome analysis between each of these pathogen infections to identify 501 Common Responsive (CoRe) genes targeted against these pathogens. Furthermore, about 80% of these CoRe set are upregulated upon infection by all three pathogens indicating a similar transcriptional response of F. vesca independent of pathogen’s lifestyle. These upregulated CoRe set include genes from well-known defence responsive pathways such as calcium and MAP kinase signalling, WRKY transcription factors, pathogenesis-related allergen genes and hormone and terpene biosynthetic genes. These novel insights into F. vesca’s defences might serve as a basis for engineering plants with broad spectrum resistance.

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