Viral, fungal and bacterial disease resistance in transgenic plants

Abstract

Continuing attention is being devoted to the development of substitute strategies in plant-disease management and reducing dependency on synthetic chemicals. Viral, fungal and bacterial diseases are unquestionably the most versatile for environmental adaption and in the destruction of plant growth. Among the strategies, resistance breeding has generated proven data and been exploited in depth. However, conventional methods alone are not sufficient to control the novel races of viral, fungal and bacterial pathogens in crops due to a scarcity in required crop variations. The current situation encourages the search for variation against biotic stress through identification of genes across species. Over the last two decades, significant efforts have been initiated in plant-disease management via genetic engineering. In addition, several molecular techniques have emerged to disentangle multifaceted plant-pathogen systems and associated disease-resistance candidate genes. Besides describing many promising candidate genes from viruses, fungi and bacteria, numerous plant disease-resistance genes have been identified and evaluated in crop improvement programs by transformation. Advancement in plant transformation techniques enables transferring useful genes for the rational creation of disease-resistant plants. Success has been achieved in transgenic crops against various diseases of important crop plants. This chapter describes genetically engineered plants and their resistant to viral, fungal and bacterial pathogens.