Scientists have traced back plant defence mechanisms to a single receptor that evolved over millions of years to recognise today’s diseases and pests.
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Crop resistance to a significant parasitic plant could be increased through gene editing or chemical treatment.
When we think of plants, the phrase “stressed out” doesn’t typically come to mind. They are, after all, exempt from paying bills and tackling existential questions. However, environmental changes—both living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic)—generate significant stressors for plants. New methods to improve plant tolerance and immunity amid climate change are therefore critical.
For years, scientists and online databases presumed the presence of clubroot—one of the main diseases on cruciferous crops (such as broccoli, cabbage, and kale)—in Mexico. However, no evidence to support this supposition existed until a team of researchers donned their detective caps to pinpoint the clubroot pathogen.
The fungus Ustilago maydis attacks corn and can cause significant damage to its host. To do this, it first ensures that the plant offers little resistance to the infection. The surgical precision it applies is shown by a new study.
Plants face constant attack by diseases, insect swarms, and fungi, resulting in crop losses that threaten global food security. Discovering new ways to help the plant defend itself against attack is an enormous challenge for scientists.
In contrast to previous assumptions, the defense hormones salicylic acid and jasmonic acid do not always suppress each other in regulating plant chemical defenses against pests and pathogens. In trees, the interplay of both hormones can actually increase plant resistance. This is the conclusion researchers draw in a new study on poplars.
A protein that allows the fungus that causes white mold stem rot in more than 600 plant species to overcome plant defenses has been identified by a team of scientists.
Doctor X Nabat is the name of an application for the early detection of diseases and pests in horticultural crops, developed by an international team (Spain, Dubai, Egypt, Tunis, United Arab Emirates). This tool, aimed at farmers and agriculture experts, is available for devices with Android systems and computers. The tool has been tested in tomato, pepper and cucumber crops.
An international team of scientists has used neutron reflectometry techniques to understand how disease-causing pathogens damage the cell membranes of plants.
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