Review: Potential biotechnological assets related to plant immunity modulation applicable in engineering disease-resistant crops

Abstract

This review emphasizes the biotechnological potential of molecules implicated in the different layers of plant immunity, including, pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-triggered immunity (PTI), effector-triggered susceptibility (ETS), and effector-triggered immunity (ETI) that can be applied in the development of disease-resistant genetically modified (GM) plants. These biomolecules are produced by pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, oomycetes) or plants during their mutual interactions. Biomolecules involved in the first layers of plant immunity, PTI and ETS, include inhibitors of pathogen cell-wall-degrading enzymes (CWDEs), plant pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and susceptibility (S) proteins, while the ETI-related biomolecules include plant resistance (R) proteins. The biomolecules involved in plant defense PTI/ETI responses described herein also include antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins and ribosome-inhibiting proteins (RIPs), as well as enzymes involved in plant defensive secondary metabolite biosynthesis (phytoanticipins and phytoalexins). Moreover, the regulation of immunity by RNA interference (RNAi) in GM disease-resistant plants is also considered. Therefore, the present review does not cover all the classes of biomolecules involved in plant innate immunity that may be applied in the development of disease-resistant GM crops but instead highlights the most common strategies in the literature, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.

Hevein-Like Antimicrobial Peptides Wamps: Structure–Function Relationship in Antifungal Activity and Sensitization of Plant Pathogenic Fungi to Tebuconazole by WAMP-2-Derived Peptides

“…Despite the successful solution of many plant protection issues by using breeding for resistance and various green biotechnologies [1,2], fungal diseases continue to cause yield losses of economically important crops, including cereals [3], and treatment with chemical fungicides still remains the most relevant way to maintain a favorable phytosanitary situation in the field and to guarantee high yields.…”

Ecotopic Expression of the Antimicrobial Peptide DmAMP1W Improves Resistance of Transgenic Wheat to Two Diseases: Sharp Eyespot and Common Root Rot

“…tritici [37], Fusarium graminearum and R. cerealis [20]. Therefore, generation of transgenic crops expressing AMPs has been an effective approach against fungal diseases [38][39][40][41]. Although Jha et al reported that transgenic rice lines expressing DmAMP1 gene improved resistance to the diseases rice blast and rice sheath blight [26], it has not been verified that the resistance abilities of DmAMP1 to fungi diseases in wheat are real.…”

The Multiple Facets of Plant–Fungal Interactions Revealed Through Plant and Fungal Secretomics

“…Given the significant economical and societal impact of plant diseases caused by microbial pathogens, molecular components involved in the control of such devastating diseases have been the object of several biotechnological studies and applications, notably genetic improvement of plant resistance. Identification and introgression of resistance traits into desirable varieties through accelerated breeding and gene editing technologies is essential to global food security (Ghag, 2017;Silva et al, 2018;Pixley et al, 2019;Yin and Qiu, 2019).…”