Pattern Recognition Receptors—Versatile Genetic Tools for Engineering Broad-Spectrum Disease Resistance in Crops

Stefanie Ranf

doi:10.3390/agronomy8080134

Abstract

Infestations of crop plants with pathogens pose a major threat to global food supply. Exploiting plant defense mechanisms to produce disease-resistant crop varieties is an important strategy to control plant diseases in modern plant breeding and can greatly reduce the application of agrochemicals. The discovery of different types of immune receptors and a detailed understanding of their activation and regulation mechanisms in the last decades has paved the way for the deployment of these central plant immune components for genetic plant disease management. This review will focus on a particular class of immune sensors, termed pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), that activate a defense program termed pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and outline their potential to provide broad-spectrum and potentially durable disease resistance in various crop species—simply by providing plants with enhanced capacities to detect invaders and to rapidly launch their natural defense program.

Highlights

Pathogens and pests of plants are a major problem in agricultural food production despite the application of plant protection chemicals [1]
I will demonstrate in which ways pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and Pattern-Triggered Immunity (PTI) can be deployed for disease resistance management in crop plants and illustrate future perspectives for molecular engineering of PRRs and PRR signaling
Like Microbe-Associated Molecular Patterns (MAMPs), Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs) are sensed by cell surface-resident PRRs and activate typical PTI signaling and defense responses [4]

Summary

Introduction

Pathogens and pests of plants are a major problem in agricultural food production despite the application of plant protection chemicals [1]. Actinidae [3], and the increasing resistance of many pathogen races/strains against available pesticides, illustrates the vulnerability of our current plant protection strategies and the looming risk of devastating disease outbreaks. Increasing the yield of high-quality plant products on the available arable farm land while reducing the amount of ecologically harmful agrochemicals, necessitates the development of future-oriented, sustainable agricultural production systems and effective but environment-friendly plant protection measures. I will demonstrate in which ways PRRs and PTI can be deployed for disease resistance management in crop plants and illustrate future perspectives for molecular engineering of PRRs and PRR signaling.

Pattern-Triggered Immunity Forms a Robust Host Barrier to Invaders

Pattern- versus Effector-Triggered Immunity

PRR Transfer Between Plants Species

PRR Engineering

Exploiting DAMP Signalling

Conclusions