Molecular basis of plant-pathogen interactions and consequences on food security: a review.

Abstract

Plant diseases is a major cause of yield losses and have impacted significantly on the well-being of humans and animals. Plants are engaged in continuous co-evolutionary struggle to get dominance overcommon pathogens. Understanding the Plant-Pathogen interaction constitutes major concern and strategy in curbing global food. Concise knowledge of plant pathogen-host mechanism could help in the developing of robust plant protection strategy to prevent food shortage due to yield loss, infection and spoilage in crop plants. The knowledge of such interactions would include the various mechanisms of plant defense systems and pathogenesis by different types of pathogens, which have major impact on agricultural and crop production. The frontline of plant defense against non-viral pathogens such as bacteria, fungi and oomycetes is provided by transmembrane pattern. The receptor mechanism recognize and detect conserved Pathogen Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs), such as Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in Gram negative bacteria which activates the pattern-triggered immunity (PTI).To counter this plant innate defense, pathogens usually deploy effector proteins with a primary function to suppress PTI. The efficiency of PTI could be suppressed by pathogen virulence effectors; Effector Triggered Susceptibility (ETS). In response to the pathogen effector proteins, plants have developed surveillance proteins (R-protein) to either directly or indirectly sense the presence of the pathogen effector proteins and the mechanism activates immunity against the pathogen. There is therefore continuous struggle between plant and associated pathogen for survival. Consequently plant have evolved in such a way that it can switch between its hypersensitive response with respect to Necrotrophs as well as Biotrophs as a mean of surviving virulent pathogens.