Join the green team: Inducers of plant immunity in the plant disease sustainable control toolbox

Feng Zhu; Meng-Yao Cao; Qi-Ping Zhang; Rajinikanth Mohan; Jacob Schar; Michaela Mitchell; Huan Chen; Fengquan Liu; Daowen Wang; Zheng Qing Fu

doi:10.1016/j.jare.2023.04.016

Join the green team: Inducers of plant immunity in the plant disease sustainable control toolbox

J Adv Res. 2024 Mar:57:15-42. doi: 10.1016/j.jare.2023.04.016. Epub 2023 May 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ College of Plant Protection, Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety, the Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China. Electronic address: zhufeng@yzu.edu.cn.
² College of Plant Protection, Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety, the Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu 225009, China.
³ Department of Biology, Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA 16546, USA.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA; Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Food Quality and Safety State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of Ministry of Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210014, China.
⁶ Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Food Quality and Safety State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base of Ministry of Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210014, China.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Agronomy, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China.
⁸ Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. Electronic address: zfu@mailbox.sc.edu.

Abstract

Background: Crops are constantly attacked by various pathogens. These pathogenic microorganisms, such as fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes, threaten global food security by causing detrimental crop diseases that generate tremendous quality and yield losses worldwide. Chemical pesticides have undoubtedly reduced crop damage; however, in addition to increasing the cost of agricultural production, the extensive use of chemical pesticides comes with environmental and social costs. Therefore, it is necessary to vigorously develop sustainable disease prevention and control strategies to promote the transition from traditional chemical control to modern green technologies. Plants possess sophisticated and efficient defense mechanisms against a wide range of pathogens naturally. Immune induction technology based on plant immunity inducers can prime plant defense mechanisms and greatly decrease the occurrence and severity of plant diseases. Reducing the use of agrochemicals is an effective way to minimize environmental pollution and promote agricultural safety.

Aim of review: The purpose of this workis to offer valuable insights into the current understanding and future research perspectives of plant immunity inducers and their uses in plant disease control, ecological and environmental protection, and sustainable development of agriculture.

Key scientific concepts of review: In this work, we have introduced the concepts of sustainable and environment-friendly concepts of green disease prevention and control technologies based on plant immunity inducers. This article comprehensively summarizes these recent advances, emphasizes the importance of sustainable disease prevention and control technologies for food security, and highlights the diverse functions of plant immunity inducers-mediated disease resistance. The challenges encountered in the potential applications of plant immunity inducers and future research orientation are also discussed.

Keywords: Disease sustainable control; Food security; Green technologies; Inducers of plant immunity; Plant diseases; Plant immunity.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Crops, Agricultural
Disease Resistance
Pesticides*
Plant Diseases / prevention & control
Plant Immunity*

Substances

Pesticides