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Broad-spectrum defense against plant pathogens

Nature Biotechnology volume 28, pages 330–331 (2010)Cite this article

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Transfer of a pattern-recognition immune receptor to a crop confers resistance to several bacterial pathogens.

Like animals, plants must continually fight infection by the many pathogens they encounter. Microbial pathogens account for billions of dollars worth of crop losses annually, and genetic engineering solutions that could defend plants against a broad range of pathogens would have a large impact on agricultural productivity. In this issue, Lacombe et al.1 report a groundbreaking demonstration that heterologous expression of a plant immune receptor can provide broad-spectrum resistance against four agriculturally relevant bacterial pathogens.

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Figure 1: Engineering broad-spectrum resistance in tomato, a member of the Solanaceae, by transferring a pattern-recognition receptor from the wild species A. thaliana (family Brassicaceae).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alexandre Brutus and Sheng Yang He are in the Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.,

    Alexandre Brutus & Sheng Yang He

Authors
  1. Alexandre Brutus
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  2. Sheng Yang He
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Correspondence to Sheng Yang He.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Brutus, A., Yang He, S. Broad-spectrum defense against plant pathogens. Nat Biotechnol 28, 330–331 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0410-330

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0410-330

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