Disease resistance - Hormone Health Center

What is disease resistance?

Disease resistance refers to the ability of a plant to restrict, slow down, or overcome the effects of a pathogen or disease. There are several types of disease resistance in plants:

• Horizontal resistance - provides resistance to multiple strains or races of a pathogen. It tends to be more durable over time.
• Vertical resistance - provides resistance to specific strains or races of a pathogen, but not others. This resistance can be overcome by new races of the pathogen, so it may not be durable.
• Qualitative resistance - resistance that is controlled by one or a few genes and tends to provide complete protection or no protection. It is often race-specific.
• Quantitative resistance - resistance that is controlled by multiple genes and tends to provide partial protection. It is usually more horizontal and durable over time.

Plants have various complex physical and chemical defenses that contribute to disease resistance:

• Structural barriers like thick cell walls or cuticles
• Chemical barriers like antimicrobial compounds
• Enzyme inhibitors that hinder pathogen growth
• Hypersensitive response that isolates pathogens

Breeding crops for enhanced disease resistance is crucial for sustainable agriculture. Some ways this can be achieved:

• Introgressing resistance genes from wild relatives
• Marker-assisted selection to efficiently combine multiple minor resistance genes
• Genetic engineering to insert resistance genes across species barriers

Strengthening disease resistance allows reduced pesticide use, improving economics, worker safety, and environmental impact. Balancing durable broad-spectrum resistance with yield and quality is an ongoing challenge.

The plant pathologists at Hormone Health Center leverage the latest technologies to understand pathogen virulence factors and plant defense mechanisms. This knowledge guides our integrated breeding and biotech pipelines to develop elite disease resistant varieties for growers. Test our genetics today to see how they can maximize your farm’s productivity and profitability!

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