Engineering genetic disease resistance into crops: biotechnological approaches to crop protection

Abstract

Modern molecular biological techniques are allowing deeper insights into plant-pathogen interactions than ever before. Cell-culture technology provides a powerful set of tools to produce disease-resistant plant genotypes. The unravelling of plant defence mechanisms and the cloning of resistance genes are now opening new avenues for the genetic engineering of crop plants with enhanced resistance to diseases. Dozens of field tests of genetically engineered plants with novel resistance properties have already been conducted. As major crop plants such as rice, maize, soybean, sugar beet, cotton and potato can now be routinely manipulated in cell culture and genetically transformed, it will only be a matter of time until transgenic varieties of these crops with engineered genetic resistance to fungal, bacterial and virus diseases will become available to the farmer. This review highlights some of the recent developments in the areas of plant cell biology and molecular plant pathology. The potential impact of resistant plant varieties on future crop protection practices is discussed, the major benefits offered by genetically engineered crops are emphasized and some of the obstacles that affect their public acceptance are outlined.