What is disease resistance?
Disease resistance refers to the ability of a plant to restrict, slow down, or overcome the effects of a pathogen or insect that would cause disease. There are many forms of disease resistance in plants, both natural and genetically engineered.
Some key things to know about disease resistance:
- Plants have innate, natural defense systems against diseases. This can include structural barriers like waxy layers on leaves, production of antimicrobial compounds, and more.
- Genetic resistance is when a plant has specific genes that recognize pathogens and launch defense responses. These genes may allow the plant to detect a pathogen early and set off alarms to wall off infection.
- There are two main types of genetic resistance in plants:
- Vertical resistance - the plant has resistance to specific strains of a pathogen. This resistance can be overcome if the pathogen mutates.
- Horizontal resistance - the plant has broad-spectrum resistance to multiple pathogen strains or even multiple pathogens. This more durable resistance involves pathways less likely for a pathogen to overcome.
- Engineered resistance uses biotech methods to insert genetic resistance from other plants or organisms into crop plants. For example, genes from a virus or bacterium might get inserted to trigger a new defense for a plant.
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Some key goals around disease resistance in plants include:
- Breeding durable, broad-spectrum resistance that can stand up to many strains of pathogens over time. This gives lasting protection.
- Stacking multiple resistance genes together to fend off complex infections by multiple pathogens.
- Finding resistance options that work well within integrated pest management programs and have minimal environmental side effects.
I hope this gives an introductory overview to what disease resistance entails in plants! Let me know if you have any other questions.