White leaf spot (Neopseudocercosporella capsellae), Alternaria (Alternaria brassicae), blackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans), and downy mildew (Hyaloperonospora brassicae) commonly co-occur on rapeseed (Brassica napus). In controlled environment studies, the synergistic/antagonistic interactions between these four pathogens were determined using two cultivars (Surpass 400, Thunder TT) with contrast...

Plant immune responses to pathogens are often associated with enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), known as the oxidative burst, and with rapid hypersensitive host cell death (the hypersensitive response, HR) at sites of attempted infection. It is generally accepted that the oxidative burst acts as a promotive signal for HR, and that HR is highly correlated with efficient disea...

Clubroot disease caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae is one of the most serious diseases in Brassica crops worldwide. In this study, the pathotypes of 12 Korean P. brassicae field isolates were determined using various Chinese cabbage including 22 commercial cultivars from Korea, China, and Japan, and 15 inbred lines. All P. brassicae isolates exhibited the typical clubroot disease on non-clubro...

The cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae L. (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a perennial pest that specializes on plants of the Brassicaceae family, attacking winter canola (Brassica napus L.) mainly during and after flowering. Under field conditions, cabbage aphid colonizes the upper flowering canopy. Population dynamics of aphids in the flowering canopy could be regulated by differences in either p...

Clubroot, one of the most devastating diseases to the Brassicaceae family, is caused by the obligate biotrophic pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae. However, studies of the molecular basis of disease resistance are still poor especially in quantitative resistance. In the present paper, two previously identified genotypes, a clubroot-resistant genotype (wild cabbage, B2013) and a clubroot-suscepti...

Plant responses to enemies are coordinated by several interacting signaling systems. Molecular and genetic studies with mutants and exogenous signal application suggest that jasmonate (JA)-, salicylate (SA)-, and ethylene (ET)-mediated pathways modulate expression of portions of the defense phenotype in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), but have not yet linked these observations directly with...

The Brassicaceae family is characterized by a unique defence mechanism known as the 'glucosinolate-myrosinase' system. When insect herbivores attack plant tissues, glucosinolates are hydrolysed by the enzyme myrosinase (EC 3.2.1.147) into a variety of degradation products, which can deter further herbivory. This process has been described as 'the mustard oil bomb'. Additionally, insect damage i...

Glucosinolate accumulation and expression of glucosinolate biosynthetic genes were studied in response to four herbivores in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) wild-type (Columbia) and mutant lines affected in defense signaling. Herbivory on wild-type plants led to increased aliphatic glucosinolate content for three of four herbivores tested, the aphid generalist Myzus persicae (Sulzer), the aphid speci...