Cell biology of plant immunization against microbial infection: The potential of induced resistance in controlling plant diseases

• Published in: Plant physiology and biochemistry Vol. 37; no. 10; pp. 703 - 719
• Main Authors: Benhamou, Nicole, Nicole, Michel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris Elsevier Masson SAS 01.10.1999; Elsevier
• Subjects: BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR; Biological and medical sciences; BIOLOGIE MOLECULAIRE; Chemical-mediated induced resistance; DISEASE RESISTANCE; elicitor-mediated resistance; ENFERMEDADES DE LAS PLANTAS; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Generalities. Disease free stocks; gold cytochemistry; INDUCED RESISTANCE; MALADIE DES PLANTES; microbial-mediated induced resistance; MOLECULAR BIOLOGY; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; PLANT DISEASES; PLANTAS; PLANTE; PLANTS; RESISTANCE AUX MALADIES; RESISTANCE INDUITE; RESISTENCIA A LA ENFERMEDAD; RESISTENCIA INDUCIDA; soil-borne pathogens; ultrastructure; gold cytochemistry; ISR, induced systemic resistance; PGPR, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria; soil-borne pathogens; ultrastructure; FORL, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici; Chemical-mediated induced resistance; microbial-mediated induced resistance; SAR, systemic acquired resistance; elicitor-mediated resistance; Immunization; Plant pathogen; Sensitizing protection; Host agent relation; Review; Induced resistance; Fungi; Infection; Disease resistance; Plant; Pest; Sensitivity resistance; Helmintha; Bacteria; Defense mechanism; Nemathelminthia; Elicitation; Invertebrata; Nematoda; Thallophyta
• ISSN: 0981-9428; 1873-2690
• DOI: 10.1016/S0981-9428(00)86684-X

During the course of their co-evolution, plants and pathogens have evolved an intricate relationship resulting from a continuous exchange of molecular information. Pathogens have developed an array of offensive strategies to parasitize plants and, in turn, plants have deployed a wide range of defence mechanisms similar in some respects to the immune defences produced in animals. The recent advances in molecular biology and plant transformation have provided evidence that sensitizing a plant to respond more rapidly to infection could confer increased protection against virulent pathogens. One important facet in ascertaining the significance of defence molecules in plant disease resistance is the exact knowledge of their spatio-temporal distribution in stressed plant tissues. In an effort to understand the process associated with the induction of plant disease resistance, the effect of microbial and chemical elicitors on the plant cell response during attack by fungal pathogens was investigated and the mechanisms underlying the expression of resistance to bacteria and nematodes studied by both histo- and cytochemistry. Evidence is provided that the disease-resistance response correlates with changes in cell biochemistry and physiology that are accompanied by structural modifications including the formation of callose-enriched wall appositions and the infiltration of phenolic compounds at sites of potential pathogen penetration. Activation of the phenylpropanoid pathway is a crucial phenomenon involved in pathogen growth restriction and host cell survival under stress conditions. Ultrastructural and cytochemical approaches have the potential to significantly improve our knowledge of how plants defend themselves and how plant disease resistance is expressed at the cell level.