Plant Pathogen Resistance Biotechnology

Plant pathogens and diseases are among the most significant challenges to survival that plants face. Disease outbreaks caused by microbial or viral pathogens can decimate crop yields and have severe effects on global food supply. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying plant immune response and applying this understanding to develop biotechnological tools to enhance plant defense against pathogens has great potential for moderating the impact of plant disease outbreaks. Plant Pathogen Resistance Biotechnology?s main focus is an in depth survey of the biological strategies  being used to create transgenic disease resistant plants for sustainable plant resistance

Plant Pathogen Resistance Biotechnology is divided into four sections. The first section covers biological mechanisms underpinning disease resistance in plants, while the second highlights case studies of important pathogen-crop groups and then considers why the application of important pathogen-crop groups, transgenic-based strategies designed to selectively target pathogens could benefit crop production. The third section provides information on the status of transgenic crops around the world, and finally the last part explores high-tech alternatives to genetic engineering for developing disease resistant traits in plants.

List of Contributors xiii

Foreword xix

Acknowledgments xxv

Chapter 1 The Status and Prospects for Biotechnological Approaches for Attaining SustainableDisease Resistance 1
David B. Collinge, Ewen Mullins, Birgit Jensen and Hans J.L. Jørgensen

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Factors to consider when generating disease‐resistant crops 2

1.3 Opportunities to engineer novel cultivars for disease resistance 10

1.4 Technical barriers to engineering novel cultivars for disease resistance 13

1.5 Approaches for identification and selection of genes important for disease resistance 14

1.6 Promising strategies for engineering disease‐resistant crops 15

1.7 Future directions and issues 15

References 16

Part I: Biological Strategies Leading Towards Disease Resistance 21

Chapter 2 Engineering Barriers to Infection by Undermining Pathogen Effector Function or byGaining Effector Recognition 23
Ali Abdurehim Ahmed, Hazel McLellan, Geziel Barbosa Aguilar, Ingo Hein, Hans Thordal‐Christensen and Paul R.J. Birch

2.1 Introduction 23

2.2 Plant defence and effector function 24

2.3 Strategies for engineering resistance 33

2.4 Perspective 42

References 43

Chapter 3 Application of Antimicrobial Proteins and Peptides in Developing Disease‐Resistant Plants51
Ashis Kumar Nandi

3.1 Introduction 51

3.2 Biological role of PR‐proteins 52

3.3 Antimicrobial peptides 56

3.4 Regulation of PR‐protein expression 57

3.5 Biotechnological application of PR‐protein genes in developing improved crop plants 60

3.6 Future directions 61

Acknowledgement 63

References 63

Chapter 4 Metabolic Engineering of Chemical Defence Pathways in Plant Disease Control 71
Fred Rook

4.1 Introduction 71

4.2 Present status of metabolic engineering in the control of plant disease 73

4.3 Metabolic engineering: technical challenges and opportunities 78

4.4 The outlook for metabolically engineering of disease resistance in crops 83

References 85

Chapter 5 Arabinan: Biosynthesis and a Role in Host‐Pathogen Interactions 91
Maria Stranne and Yumiko Sakuragi

5.1 Introduction 91

5.2 Biosynthesis and modification of arabinan 94

5.3 Distribution of arabinan in different tissues and during development 96

5.4 Role of arabinan in plant growth and development 98

5.5 Roles of arabinan degrading enzymes in virulence of phytopathogenic fungi 99

5.6 Roles of arabinan in pathogen interactions 101

5.7 Conclusion 103

References 103

Chapter 6 Transcription Factors that Regulate Defence Responses and Their Use in IncreasingDisease Resistance 109
Prateek Tripathi, Aravind Galla, Roel C. Rabara and Paul J. Rushton

6.1 Introduction 109

6.2 Transcription factors and plant defence 110

6.3 AP2/ERF transcription factors 111

6.4 bZIP transcription factors 113

6.5 WRKY transcription factors 114

6.6 MYB transcription factors 116

6.7 Other transcription factor families 117

6.8 Can the manipulation of specific transcription factors deliver sustainable disease resistance? 118

6.9 Have we chosen the right transgenes? 119

6.10 Have we chosen the right expression strategies? 120

6.11 What new ideas are there for the future of TF‐based crop improvement? 121

References 124

Chapter 7 Regulation of Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses by Plant Hormones 131
Dominik K. Großkinsky, Eric van der Graaff and Thomas Roitsch

7.1 Introduction 131

7.2 Regulation of biotic stress responses by plant hormones 132

7.3 Regulation of abiotic stress responses by plant hormones 140

7.4 Conclusions and further perspectives 145

References 147

Part II: Case Studies for Groups of Pathogens and Important Crops. Why is it Especially Advantageousto use Transgenic Strategies for these Pathogens or Crops? 155

Chapter 8 Engineered Resistance to Viruses: A Case of Plant Innate Immunity 157
Paula Tennant and Marc Fuchs

8.1 Introduction 157

8.2 Mitigation of viruses 158

8.3 Biotechnology and virus resistance 158

8.4 Success stories 162

8.5 Challenges of engineering RNAi‐mediated resistance 163

8.6 Benefits of virus‐resistant transgenic crops 164

8.7 Conclusions 166

References 167

Chapter 9 Problematic Crops: 1. Potatoes: Towards Sustainable Potato Late Blight Resistance byCisgenic R Gene Pyramiding 171
Kwang‐Ryong Jo, Suxian Zhu, Yuling Bai, Ronald C.B. Hutten, G.J. Kessel, Vivianne G.A.A. Vleeshouwers, Evert Jacobsen, Richard G.F. Visser and Jack H. Vossen

9.1 Potato late blight resistance breeding advocates GM strategies 171

9.2 GM strategies for late blight resistance breeding 177

9.3 Late blight‐resistant GM varieties 186

References 187

Chapter 10 Problematic Crops: 1. Grape: To Long Life and Good Health: Untangling the Complexity ofGrape Diseases to Develop Pathogen‐Resistant Varieties 193
Dario Cantu, M. Caroline Roper, Ann L.T. Powell and John M. Labavitch

10.1 Introduction 193

10.2 Introduction to grapevine pathology 194

10.3 Approaches for the improvement of grapevine disease resistance 198

10.4 Pierce’s disease of grapevines: a case study 202

References 211

Chapter 11 Developing Sustainable Disease Resistance in Coffee: Breeding vs. Transgenic Approaches217
Avinash Kumar, Simmi P. Sreedharan, Nandini P. Shetty and Giridhar Parvatam

11.1 Introduction 217

11.2 Agronomic aspects of coffee 217

11.3 Major threats to coffee plantations 219

11.4 Breeding for disease resistance and pest management 225

11.5 Various traits targeted for transgenic coffee development 227

11.6 Bottlenecks in coffee transgenic development 229

11.7 GM or hybrid joe: what choices to make? 235

Acknowledgements 236

Endnote 236

References 236

Webliographies 243

Chapter 12 Biotechnological Approaches for Crop Protection: Transgenes for Disease Resistance inRice 245
Blanca San Segundo, Belén Lopez‐García and María Coca

12.1 Introduction 245

12.2 Plant immunity 247

12.3 Transgenic approaches to engineer disease resistance in rice plants 250

12.4 Targeted genome engineering 260

12.5 Safety issues of genetically engineered rice 261

12.6 Conclusions and future prospects 263

Acknowledgement 265

References 265

Part III: Status of Transgenic Crops Around the World 273

Chapter 13 Status of Transgenic Crops in Argentina 275
Fernando F. Bravo‐Almonacid and María Eugenia Segretin

13.1 Transgenic crops approved for commercialization in Argentina 275

13.2 Economic impact derived from transgenic crops cultivation 278

13.3 Local developments 278

13.4 Perspectives 282

References 282

Chapter 14 The Status of Transgenic Crops in Australia 285
Michael Gilbert

14.1 Introduction 285

14.2 Government policies 286

14.3 Field trials 287

14.4 Crops deregulated 287

14.5 Crops grown 287

14.6 Public sentiment toward GM crops 291

14.7 Value capture 291

14.8 What is in the pipeline 292

14.9 Summary 292

Endnotes 293

References 293

Chapter 15 Transgenic Crops in Spain 295
María Coca, Belén Lopez‐García and Blanca San Segundo

15.1 Introduction 295

15.2 Transgenic crops in Europe 296

15.3 Transgenic crops in Spain 297

15.4 Future prospects 300

Acknowledgements 302

References 302

Chapter 16 Biotechnology and Crop Disease Resistance in South Africa 305
Maryke Carstens and Dave K. Berger

16.1 Genetically modified crops in South Africa 305

16.2 Economic, social and health benefits of GM crops in South Africa 308

16.3 Biotechnology initiatives for crop disease control in South Africa 309

16.4 Future prospects 312

Acknowledgements 313

References 313

Part IV: Implications of Transgenic Technologies for Improved Disease Control 317

Chapter 17 Exploiting Plant Induced Resistance as a Route to Sustainable Crop Protection 319
Michael R. Roberts and Jane E. Taylor

17.1 Introduction 319

17.2 Examples of elicitors of induced resistance 321

17.3 Priming of induced resistance 326

17.4 Drivers and barriers to the adoption of plant activators in agriculture and horticulture 330

17.5 Conclusions and future prospects 334

References 334

Chapter 18 Biological Control Using Microorganisms as an Alternative to Disease Resistance 341
Dan Funck Jensen, Magnus Karlsson, Sabrina Sarrocco and Giovanni Vannacci

18.1 Introduction 341

18.2 Getting the right biocontrol organism 343

18.3 New approaches for studying the biology of BCAs and biocontrol interactions 351

18.4 Strategy for using biocontrol in IPM 354

References 357

Webliography 363

Chapter 19 TILLING in Plant Disease Control: Applications and Perspectives 365
Francesca Desiderio, Anna Maria Torp, Giampiero Valè and Søren K. Rasmussen

19.1 Concepts of forward and reverse genetics 365

19.2 The TILLING procedure 366

19.3 Mutagenesis 366

19.4 DNA preparation and pooling of individuals 371

19.5 Mutation discovery 372

19.6 Identification and evaluation of the individual mutant 374

19.7 Bioinformatics tools 374

19.8 EcoTILLING 375

19.9 Modified TILLING approaches 375

19.10 Application of TILLING and TILLING‐related procedures in disease resistance 376

19.11 Perspectives 380

References 381

Chapter 20 Fitness Costs of Pathogen Recognition in Plants and Their Implications for CropImprovement 385
James K.M. Brown

20.1 The goal of durable resistance 385

20.2 New ways of using R‐genes 386

20.3 Costs of resistance in crop improvement 387

20.4 Fitness costs of R‐gene defences 388

20.5 Phenotypes of R‐gene over‐expression 390

20.6 Requirements for R‐protein function 391

20.7 Necrotic phenotypes of R‐gene mutants 394

20.8 Summary of fitness costs of R‐gene mutations 396

20.9 R‐genes in plant breeding 397

20.10 Biotech innovation and genetic diversity 400

20.11 Conclusion 400

Acknowledgement 400

References 400

Index 405