Phytosfere'99 - Highlights in European Plant Biotechnology Research and Technology Transfer

G.E. de Vries, K. Metzlaff

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2000
• Print ISBN: 9780444503268
• eBook ISBN: 9780080538990
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Botany
• Index: Biological Sciences

Humans face the challenge of producing enough food to meet the demands imposed by economic, biological and agricultural factors: rising population; rising income; and an expectation of higher quality food and a more diverse diet; decreasing amount of land available for food production; lowering environmental impact of agricultural practices and preserving biodiversity.Biotechnology is one of the most exciting and dynamic industries of our day. It offers us the possibility of reducing our dependence on intensive farming. Plant biotechnology is central to the search for effective, environmentally safe and economically sound alternatives to the use of chemical pesticides and the exhaustion of natural resources. Today, applied plant science has four overall goals: increased crop yield, improved crop quality, reducing production costs and reducing negative environmental impact. Biotechnology is proving its value in meeting these goals. It offers farmers higher yielding crops with lower costs of production and new outlets such as nutraceuticals and crop-based bio-factories. It offers the European economy the potential of high quality, knowledge based job creation and the European consumer better quality, tastier and more nutritious food. Though there is public concern of genetic engineering, those who are close to the science understand that this is the next big frontier to be crossed. The potential and opportunities offered by plant biotechnology must not be missed. We must go forward on that basis rather than turning our backs on the science.Phytosfere'99 provides a comprehensive overview for plant biotechnology. It combines specific scientific articles, review articles and comments from outside people on it, which is unique in European Literature.

Section VI

Response To Challenges Of The Environment

The Cluster: ”Responses To Challenges Of The Environment”

Carmen Castresana Campus Universidad Autonoma, C.S.I.C., Centro Nacional de Biotechnologia, Madrid, Spain

Plants can be confronted to multiple biotic and abiotic stress situations during development and have evolved specific responses to deal with these environmental challenges. The ability of plants to react against adverse conditions represents an advantageous characteristic contributing to their selection. The study of the molecular mechanisms mediating the plant response to external stimuli is therefore of interest to understand the natural processes mediating the adaptation of plants to stress and to generate new methods to improve agriculture productivity.

This cluster groups a number of projects directed to the study of the molecular mechanisms activated in plants in response to different stress conditions. Efforts of many groups are focused in the interaction of plants with different type of pathogens, nematodes, fungi, virus, and bacteria. The remaining projects address the responses of plants to salinity and the control of photorespiration, an important trait for productivity and water use efficiency.

The ten projects integrated in this cluster are the following:

– BIO4-CT96-0318. Basic and development of molecular approaches to nematode resistance, co-ordinated by G. Gheysen (BE).

– BIO4-CT96-0352. The molecular and cellular basis of specific Septoria tritici leaf blotch of wheat, caused by Mycosphaerella graminicola, co-ordinated by J. Brown (UK).

– BIO4-CT96-0515. Structure/function analysis of LRR proteins and their ligands inplants pathogens interactions and engineered resistance, co-ordinated by J. Jones (UK).

– BIO4-CT97-2244. Delivery of elicitors and pathogenicity factors from bacterial pathogens and their interaction with plant cells: application of basic studies, co-ordinated by J. Mansfield (UK).

– BIO4-CT97-2300. Composition of plant virus RNA replicases, co-ordinated by J. Bol (NL).

– BIO4-CT97-2356. Characterisation of recessive genes that control natural resistance to potyvirus, co-ordinated by E. Jonhansen (DK).

– BIO4-CT97-2120. Induced resistance of plants to pathogen infection: triggering and expression, co-ordinated by C. Castresana (ES).

– BIO4-CT97-2275. Central role in adaptation of fourteen three proteins, co-ordinated by D. Collinge (DK).

– BIO4-CT96-0775. Ion transport and signal transduction pathways contributing to salt tolerance in plants, co-ordinated by R. Leigh (UK).

– BIO4-CT97-2002. Control of photorespiration in plant leaves by RD technology, co-ordinated by B. Miflin (UK).

Two reports by Andy Maule and Hans Helder are presented in these proceedings, illustrating the progress achieved in these particular projects. The main goal in these projects concerns the understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling the interaction of agronomical important plants with different type of pathogens such as virus (BIO4-CT97-2356) and nematodes (BIO4-CT96-0318).

Plant diseases are of economical significance in Europe where are responsible for significant losses in agronomical important crops. Most diseases are controlled by the use of chemicals which are toxic and frequently non-specific. Moreover, these compounds have a negative effect for both the consumers and the environment.

The study of these plant-pathogen interactions will provide new fundamental information that will help in the development of alternatives to generate environmental-friendly crop protection strategies.

Concerted Efforts To Develop Handles For Plant Parasitic Nematode Control

Godelieve Gheysen Departement Plantengenetica, Universiteit Gent, Belgium

Godelieve Gheysen^1,2; Pierre Abad³; Teresa Bleve⁴; Vivian Blok⁵; Carmen Fenoll^6,6; John A. Gatehouse⁷; Florian Grundler⁸; Keith Lindsey⁹; Stephan Ohl¹⁰; Kristina Sagen¹¹; Robert Shields¹²; Johannes Helder¹³ (all authors are partner in Basis and Development of Molecular Approaches to Nematode Resistance (ARENA, 1996-1999, EC grant BIO4-CT96-0318) ¹ Laboratorium voor Genetica, Departement Plantengenetica, Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB)
² Vakgroep Plantaardige Productie, Faculteit Landbouwkundige en Toegepaste Biologische Wetenschappen, Universiteit Gent, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
³ Laboratoire de Biologie des Invertébrés, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, B.P 2078, F-06606 Antibes, France
⁴ Istituto di Nematologia Agraria Applicata ai Vegetali, 1-70126 Bari, Italy
⁵ SCRI Nematology Department,DD2 5DA Invergowrie, Dundee, United Kingdom
⁶ Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
Facultad de Ciencias del Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, E-45071 Toledo, Spain
⁷ Plant Insect Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Durham, DurhamDH1 3LE, United Kingdom
⁸ Institut für Phytopathologie, Christian-Albrechts- Universität, D-24118 Kiel, Germany
⁹ Plant Molecular Biology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
¹⁰ Zeneca MOGEN International N.V., NL-2333 CB Leiden, The Netherlands
¹¹ IACR-Rothamsted, Entomology and Nematology Department, AL52JQ Harpenden, United Kingdom
¹² Plant Breeding International Cambridge Ltd.Maris Lane, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 2LQ, United Kingdom
¹³ Wageningen University, Laboratory of Nematology, Binnenhaven 10, 6709PD Wageningen, The Netherlands

Abstract

Plant-parasitic nematodes - especially root knot and cyst nematodes - are economically important pests in numerous crops. Chemical soil sterilisation and the use of other unselective pesticides to control plant parasitic nematodes are still a common practice in many European countries and at present no realistic alternatives are available. For the identification of handles to control root knot and cyst nematodes we need to know how they interact with their host. Two main types of endoparasitic nematodes can be distinguished: root-knot and cyst nematodes, both inducing a feeding site in the plant root, but in a different way. To get insight into the molecular mechanisms behind this complex interaction, several strategies to analyse plant gene expression in response to nematode infection have been followed. Random in vivo gus fusions have been particularly successful in identifying plant promoter sequences that are highly activated in nematode feeding sites, with very little expression elsewhere in the plant, but the isolation of the corresponding genes is often not straightforward. Many highly transcribed plant genes have been identified in the feeding sites, but few have been characterised in such detail as to know how important they are for a successful infection. The available data are nevertheless providing interesting tools for novel strategies to engineer nematode resistance into crops. Concomitantly, the signals coming from the nematode that are triggering this plant response or that are important in other steps of the infection process are being characterised. This study has revealed that plant-parasitic nematodes produce many different enzymes to enable them to infect the plant root and to protect themselves against the plant defence response.

Introduction

Sedentary plant-parasitic nematodes are important pests of agricultural crops. Traditional management of plant-parasitic nematodes is relying on three basic strategies: crop rotation, agrochemicals, and the use of resistant plants. Crop rotation is sometimes economically disadvantageous and is often not effective, for example in the case of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita that has a very broad host range. ...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright page
• Preface
• Section I: Introduction
• Section II: Opportunities And Challenges Of European Plant Biotechnology
• Section III: Control Of Genes
• Section IV: Mapping Gene Location
• Section V: Controlling Development And Architecture
• Section VI: Response To Challenges Of The Environment
• Section VII: Uncovering Metabolic Pathways
• Section VIII: Entrepreneurship In Plant Science
• Author index