1. Home
  2. APAR
  3. Reality and potential of induction of plant immunity against pathogens
Submit manuscript...
Advances in
eISSN: 2373-6402

Plants & Agriculture Research

Mini Review Volume 3 Issue 4

Reality and potential of induction of plant immunity against pathogens

Atef MK Nassar

Department of Plant Protection, Damanhour University, Egypt

Correspondence: Atef MK Nassar, Department of Plant Protection, Damanhour University Damanhour, Egypt

Received: January 08, 2016 | Published: April 27, 2016

Citation: Nassar AMK. Reality and potential of induction of plant immunity against pathogens. Adv Plants Agric Res. 2016;3(4):118-119. DOI: 10.15406/apar.2016.03.00103

Download PDF

Mini review

Plant immunity the ability of plants to neutralize pathogens attack through the activation of its defence systems. During the process of pathogen recognition by plant’s cell, a complex cascade of biological processes work in synergism to synthesize the pathogenesis-related proteins and activate the oxidative burst systems.1 The oxidative burst serves as direct defence mechanism via oxidation of the essential molecules of the pathogen, stimulation of cross-linking between cell wall components, and programmed cell death termed, which is termed hypersensitive response.2 Death of cell releases its content into the vacuole and reduce the attack so that the neighboring would cells survive.

Activation of those systems could be either systemic or induced (systemic acquired resistance (SAR) or induced systemic resistance (ISR)). SAR can be induced by treatment with an assortment of agents, including necrotizing pathogens and chemicals (e.g. acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM)), and is mediated by a salicylic acid (SA)-signaling pathway. On the other hand, ISR develops as a result of colonization of plant roots by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and is mediated by a jasmonate (JA)- and ethylene (ET)-sensitive pathway.3

Induction of plants’ immunity could be achieved through treating plants with many agents, including cell wall fragments, plant extracts and synthetic chemicals, which induce resistance to subsequent pathogen attack both locally and systemically.4 The chemical resistance activators include probenazole and its active metabolite 1,2-benzisothiazole-1,1-dioxide,5 ASM (Bion and Actigard (Syngenta)), Milsana (Reynoutria sacalinensis extract; KHH BioScience), Elexa (chitosan; SafeScience) and Messenger (harpin protein; Plant Health Care). Saccharin, a metabolite of probenazole, induced SAR in rice against Magnaporthe grisea and Xanthomonas oryzae6 and Rhynchosporium commune on barley.7

β-Aminobutyric acid (BABA) induces resistance against many plant pathogens on a wide range of crops.8 Phosphite is being used to induce putative processes for the management of Phytophthora diseases.9 Biochar is one of the products of the pyrolysis (the direct thermal decomposition) of biomass in the absence of oxygen10 has been reported to improve crop performance by increasing nutrient retention,11 promoting mycorrhizal fungi in the soil,12 and modifying soil microbial populations and functions.13 Application of biochar to soil induced systemic resistance to grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) on pepper, powdery mildew (Leveillula taurica) on tomato, and the broad mite pest (Polyphagotarsonemus latus) on pepper.14 Broad-spectrum control of Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum acutatum and Podosphaera aphanis was noticed on strawberry plants grown in 1 or 3% biochar-amended potting mixture.15

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) protected tomato plants against the necrotrophic fungus Alternaria solani.16 Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), root-associated bacteria in the rhizosphere of many plant species, increased plant growth and suppressed plant diseases by secretion of antibiotics and some PGPR elicited the ISR against a broad range of pathogens.17 Penicillium simplicissimum, a plant growth-promoting fungus that was isolated from the rhizosphere of zoysiagrass (Zoysia tenuifolia), has been shown to induce ISR responses in cucumber.18 Trichoderma harzianum T39 primed resistance against downy mildew in grapevine,19 while Trichoderma asperellum SKT-1 induced resistance in Arabidopsis against the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae in tomato through the SA-based signaling pathway.20 For the priming mechanism to be activated with B. cinerea, infection of plants pre-treated with Trichoderma lead to enhanced activation of JA-responsive genes, which boosted a systemic resistance in the plant in a genotype-dependent manner.21

Moreover, marine green algae provided numerous elicitors, including β-1,3-glucans (laminarin), β-1,3-sulphated fucans, carrageenans and ulvans.22 Crude Ulva extracts protected Medicago truncatula plants against Colletotrichum trifolii,23 and Phaseolus vulgaris against Colletotrichum lindemuthianum.24 Also, ulvans and oligoulvans stimulated the defence responses and activated SAR in tomato against the vascular wilt pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici.

However, stimulation of induced and/or systemic resistance might activate the plant defences, which enable cells to fight pathogens. Less information is available on the factors that control the ability of induced cells to accumulate the required level of resistance i.e., genotype. Additionally, information about incorporation of induced resistance materials/agents in crop protection programs (IPM) is rare. Therefore, studies on the employment of these factors within IPM programs must be conducted along with the study of effects of pesticides application on those materials/agents. In addition to, the specific mechanism of induction within cells should be investigated on molecular and genetic levels.

Acknowledgements

None.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

References

  1. Apel K, Hirt H. Reactive oxygen species:metabolism, oxidative stress, and signal transduction. Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2004;55:373–399.
  2. Wojtaszek P. Oxidative burst:an early plant response to pathogen infection. Biochem J. 1997;322(Pt 3):681–692.
  3. Spoel SH, Dong X. How do plants achieve immunity? Defence without specialized immune cells. Nature Reviews Immunology. 2012;12(2):89–100.
  4. Walters DR, Fountaine JM. Practical application of induced resistance to plant diseases:an appraisal of effectiveness under field conditions. Journal of Agricultural Science. 2009;147(5):523–535.
  5. Yoshioka, Daniel F Klessig, Isamu Yamaguchi, et al. Probenazole induces systemic acquired resistance in Arabidopsis with a novel type of action. The Plant Journal. 2001;25(2):149–157.
  6. Oostendorp, Walter Kunz, Bob Dietrich, et al. Induced disease resistance in plants by chemicals. European Journal of Plant Pathology. 2001;107(1):19–28.
  7. Walters, Linda Paterson, David J Walsh, et al. Priming for plant defense in barley provides benefits only under high disease pressure. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology. 2009;73(4–5):95–100.
  8. Cohen Rubin AE, Vaknin M. Post infection application of DL–3–amino–butyric acid (BABA) induces multiple forms of resistance against Bremia lactucae in lettuce. European Journal of Plant Pathology. 2011;130(1):13–27.
  9. Hardy. The future of phosphite as a fungicide to control the soilborne plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi in natural ecosystems. Australasian Plant Pathology. 2001;30(2):133–139.
  10. Laird DA. The charcoal vision: a win–win–win scenario for simultaneously producing bioenergy, permanently sequestering carbon, while improving soil and water quality. Agronomy Journal. 2008;100(1):178–181.
  11. Chan KY, Van Zwieten L, Meszaros I, et al. Agronomic values of green waste biochar as a soil amendment. Australian Journal of Soil Research. 2007;45(8):629–634.
  12. Warnock, Johannes Lehmann, Thomas W Kuyper, et al. Mycorrhizal responses to biochar in soil–concepts and mechanisms. Plant and Soil. 2007;300(1):9–20.
  13. Steiner. Biochar in fertile clay soil:impact on carbon mineralization, microbial biomass and GHG emissions. Pedobiologia. 2008;51:359–366.
  14. Harel, Dalia Rav–David, Menachem Borenstein, et al. Biochar mediates systemic response of strawberry to foliar fungal pathogens. Plant and Soil. 2012;357(1):245–257.
  15. de la Noval B, Pérez E, Martínez B, et al. Exogenous systemin has a contrasting effect on disease resistance in mycorrhizal tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants infected with necrotrophic or hemibiotrophic pathogens. Mycorrhiza. 2007;17(5):449–460.
  16. Ryu. A two–strain mixture of rhizobacteria elicits induction of systemic resistance against Pseudomonas syringae and Cucumber mosaic virus coupled to promotion of plant growth on Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology. 2007;17(2):280–286.
  17. Koike, Koji Kageyama, Shinji Tsuyumu, et al. Induction of systemic resistance in cucumber against several diseases by plant growth–promoting fungi: lignification and superoxide generation. European Journal of Plant Pathology. 2001;107(5):523–533.
  18. Perazzolli, Benedetta Roattia, Elisa Bozzaa, et al. Trichoderma harzianum T39 induces resistance against downy mildew by priming for defense without costs for grapevine. Biological Control. 2011;58(1):74–82.
  19. Woo SL, Scala F, Ruocco M, et al. The Molecular Biology of the Interactions Between Trichoderma spp., Phytopathogenic Fungi, and Plants. Phytopathology. 2006;96(2):1061–1070.
  20. Tucci, Michelina Ruocco, Luigi De Masi, et al. Molecular Plant Pathology. 2011;12(4):341–354.
  21. Jaulneau, Claude Lafitte, Christophe Jacquet, et al. Ulvan, a Sulfated Polysaccharide from Green Algae, Activates Plant Immunity through the Jasmonic Acid Signaling Pathway. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology. 2010. 11 p.
  22. Cluzet, Torregrosa C, Jacquet C, et al. Gene expression profiling and protection of Medicago truncatula against a fungal infection in response to an elicitor from green algae Ulva spp. Plant Cell and Environment. 2004;27(7):917–928.
  23. Paulert V Talamini, JEF Cassolato, et al. Effects of sulfated polysaccharide and alcoholic extracts from green seaweed Ulva fasciata on anthracnose severity and growth of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection. 2009;116(6):263–270.
  24. El Modafar, Mohamed Elgaddaa, Redouan El Boutachfaitib, et al. Induction of Natural defence accompanied by salicylic acid–dependent systemic acquired resistance in tomato seedlings in response to bioelicitors isolated from green algae. Scientia Horticulturae. 2012;138:55–63.
Creative Commons Attribution License

©2016 Nassar. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.

Citations

Journal Menu

Useful Links