Source: CropBiotech Update

Plants are susceptible to a variety of bacterial and fungal pathogens, and such diseases represent a major constrain to crop production. Glucosinolates are natural plant products that function in the defense toward pathogens. Attack by a specific pathogen will elicit a complex molecular response in the plant, which will ultimately lead to the production and accumulation of a specific set glucosinolates most suited for defense. What are the prospects of modifying the composition of these compounds for engineering custom-made disease-resistant crops?

Günter Brader and his colleagues from the University of Helsinki and the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University of Denmark explore the effects on disease resistance of expressing different single glucosinolate biosynthetic CYP79 genes in Arabidopsis plants. Their report, “Altering glucosinolate profiles modulates disease resistance in plants” is published in the latest issue of the Plant Journal.

Arabidopsis plants expressing CYP79D2 from cassava show enhanced resistance against the bacterial soft-rot pathogen Erwinia carotovora, while overexpression of the sorghum CYP79A1 and of the endogenous CYP79A2 provide increased protection towards the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. However, an increase in certain glucosinolates also raised susceptibility to fungal pathogens. Arabidopsis with different glucosinolate contents can therefore be used as a valuable tool for the gathering of essential information on the engineering of disease resistance.

Altering glucosinolate profiles modulates disease resistance in plants
Günter Brader, Michael Dalgaard Mikkelsen, Barbara Ann Halkier and E. Tapio Palva
Abstract: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2006.02743.x