Abstract
Grain legumes, or pulses, have many beneficial properties that make them potentially attractive to agriculture. However, the large-scale cultivation of legumes faces a number of difficulties, in particular the vulnerability of the currently available cultivars to various diseases that significantly impair yields and seed quality. One of the most dangerous legume pathogens is powdery mildew (a common name for parasitic fungi of the order Erisyphales). This review examines the methods of controlling powdery mildew that are used in modern practice, including fungicides and biological agents. Special attention is paid to the plant genetic mechanisms of resistance, which are the most durable, universal and environmentally friendly. The most studied legume plant in this regard is the garden pea (Pisum sativum L.), which possesses naturally occurring resistance conferred by mutations in the gene MLO1 (Er1), for which we list here all the known resistant alleles, including er1-12 discovered by the authors of this review. Recent achievements in the genetics of resistance to powdery mildew in other legumes and prospects for the introduction of this resistance into other agriculturally important legume species are also discussed.
Highlights
Legumes (Fabaceae) are the third largest land-plant family, accounting for about 7% of flowering plant species [1]
This review examines the methods of controlling powdery mildew that are used in modern practice, including fungicides and biological agents
The most studied legume plant in this regard is the garden pea (Pisum sativum L.), which possesses naturally occurring resistance conferred by mutations in the gene MLO1 (Er1), for which we list here all the known resistant alleles, including er1-12 discovered by the authors of this review
Summary
Legumes (Fabaceae) are the third largest land-plant family, accounting for about 7% of flowering plant species [1]. Pulse crops, having been neglected en masse for a long time, are currently inferior to cereals in terms of the quantity and quality of the available cultivars, and their genetic resources remain largely unexplored and unexploited [2,6,7] These include the resistance to their own pathogens and pests [8,9], among which one of the most notorious and dangerous are the so-called powdery mildews, a group of parasitic fungi from the order Erysiphales [10,11,12]. Upon the anchoring of fungus to the host tissue, the only mechanism of resistance the plant still has in its disposal is the hypersensitive response (HR), which is a specific type of programmed cell death [21,42] Despite its irreversibility, it is a major defense mechanism against powdery mildew that has been described in numerous species and largely exploited in breeding for resistance against this pathogen [8]. Parts of mycelia with haustoria and even conidia can persist within the dormant buds of host plants, causing a rapid infection shortly after sprouting [55]
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