Antifungal tomatoes

Scientists at the University of Amsterdam have discovered how to keep tomatoes from wilting - the answer lies in the molecular level. The article is about how plants defeat pathogens and what this means for fighting other plant diseases published on May 9 in PLoS Pathogens online magazine.

Farmers and agronomists are continuing to resist the possibility of plant pathogens co-evolving according to their host immune systems. In agriculture, the most environmentally friendly method to combat evolutionary change in plant diseases is to utilize the plant's internal immune system. Cultivators can disburse multiple gene types that appear in related plants into selected different plants, and thus promote the plant's immune system naturally.

(Photo: vitinfo.com.vn)

In this study, Dr. Martijn Rep and his research team discovered the molecular basis of the previously formed concept of breeding in resistant genes. The researchers examined the interaction between a fungal pathogen - fungus Fusarium oxysporum - and the tomato plant in which the fungus causes Fusarium wilt disease.

The team found that a small protein that was sealed by some strains of the fungus prevented two of the tomato resistance genes. However, the third disease resistance gene has been shown to target this overpowered protein, bringing the plant's complete immune system to any protein-producing fungus. Therefore, with the right genome, tomatoes can defeat the fungus despite the 'molecular tricks' of later genes.

Researchers said 'This molecular analysis has yielded an unpredictable action for disease control based on disease resistance gene associations'.

Excerpt from: Houterman PM, Cornelissen BJC, Rep M (2008) Immunodeficiency of the immune system based on resistance genes in plants with fungal factors.PLoS Pathog 4 (5): e1000061.doi: 10.1371 / journal.ppat.1000061