Abstract
Sulfur (S) is an essential plant macronutrient and the pivotal role of sulfur compounds in plant disease resistance has become obvious in recent decades. This review attempts to recapitulate results on the various functions of sulfur-containing defense compounds (SDCs) in plant defense responses to pathogens. These compounds include sulfur containing amino acids such as cysteine and methionine, the tripeptide glutathione, thionins and defensins, glucosinolates and phytoalexins and, last but not least, reactive sulfur species and hydrogen sulfide. SDCs play versatile roles both in pathogen perception and initiating signal transduction pathways that are interconnected with various defense processes regulated by plant hormones (salicylic acid, jasmonic acid and ethylene) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Importantly, ROS-mediated reversible oxidation of cysteine residues on plant proteins have profound effects on protein functions like signal transduction of plant defense responses during pathogen infections. Indeed, the multifaceted plant defense responses initiated by SDCs should provide novel tools for plant breeding to endow crops with efficient defense responses to invading pathogens.
Highlights
The role of sulfur in the resistance of crops against fungal diseases became obvious at the end of the 1980s when atmospheric sulfur depositions were so much reduced by clean air acts that sulfur deficiency became a widespread nutrient disorder in Western European agriculture and the infection of crops with certain diseases became increasingly obvious, mostly in Scotland and Germany [1].The emission of sulfur oxides into the atmosphere was dramatically reduced in Central Europe at the end of the last century, mainly due to modernization of thermal power stations and to the reduction in fossil fuel combustion
Sufficient levels of sulfur in soils confer the optimal plant uptake of inorganic sulfate salts, a prerequisite for sulfur-containing defense compound (SDC) concentrations required for plant disease resistance responses
Sufficient sulfur fertilization is generally reflected in higher contents of SDCs, as well as a lower rate of infection compared to sulfur-deprived plants
Summary
The role of sulfur in the resistance of crops against fungal diseases became obvious at the end of the 1980s when atmospheric sulfur depositions were so much reduced by clean air acts that sulfur deficiency became a widespread nutrient disorder in Western European agriculture and the infection of crops with certain diseases became increasingly obvious, mostly in Scotland and Germany [1]. Sulfate salts were applied to fields to cover the sulfur demand of plants Such agricultural field experiments showed that soil-applied sulfur in the form of inorganic sulfate salts can markedly increase the disease resistance of crops against certain fungal pathogens. A significant repressive effect of soil-applied sulfur on the infection of oilseed rape with Pyrenopeziza brassicae, grapes with Uncinula necator, and potato tubers with Rhizoctonia solani was found [3,4,5]. These results led to the development of the concept of sulfur-induced resistance.
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