Mechanisms of Resistance to Plant Diseases (Advances in Agricultural Biotechnology, 17)

Plant resistance to pathogens is one of the most important strategies of disease control. Knowledge of resistance mechanisms, and of how to exploit them, has made a significant contribution to agricultural productivity. However, the continuous evolution of new variants of pathogen, ana additional control problems posed by new crops and agricultural methods, creates a need for a corresponding increase in our understanding of resistance and ability to utilize it. The study of resistance mechanisms also has attractions from a purely academic point of view. First there is the breadth of the problem, which can be approached at the genetical, molecular, cellular, whole plant or population lev~ls. Often there is the possibility of productive exchange of ideas between different disciplines. Then there is the fact that despite recent advances, many of the mechanisms involved have still to be fully elucidated. Finally, and compared with workers in other areas of biology, the student of resistance is twice blessed in having as his subject the interaction of two or more organisms, with the intriguing problems of recognition, specificity and co-evolution which this raises. Front Matter....Pages I-X Some Basic Concepts and Definitions in Resistance Studies....Pages 1-12 Host-Range Control and Non-Host Immunity to Viruses....Pages 13-28 Non-Host Resistance to Fungi....Pages 29-61 Genetics of Host Resistance to Viruses and of Virulence....Pages 62-79 The Genetic Bases of Relationships between Microbial Parasites and their Hosts....Pages 80-142 Mechanisms Involved in Genetically Controlled Resistance and Virulence: Virus Diseases....Pages 143-196 Mechanisms by Which Genetically Controlled Resistance and Virulence Influence Host Colonization by Fungal and Bacterial Parasites....Pages 197-309 Resistance and Pathogenicity: Epidemiological and Ecological Mechanisms....Pages 310-372 Mechanisms of Induced Resistance to Virus Disease....Pages 373-404 Induced Resistance to Fungal and Bacterial Diseases....Pages 405-424 Present and Future Prospects for Exploitation of Resistance in Crop Protection by Novel Means....Pages 425-452 Back Matter....Pages 453-462