Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligate biotrophs (Glomeromycota), which live symbiotically in the roots of most land plants and facilitate mineral nutrition of their hosts. Their spores are able to germinate in the absence of host-derived signals, but are unable to complete the life cycle without establishing a functional symbiosis with a host plant. Such behaviour did not represent a ...

M any destructive crop diseases are caused by filamentous microbes from the kingdoms Fungi (e.g., ascomycetes and basidomycetes) and Stramenopila (oomycetes). Many of these pathogens exploit plants by extracting nutrients from living plant cells (biotrophy) (1). In some cases, biotrophic pathogens have evolved to a state of absolute dependency on their hosts. These obligate biotrophs have lost ...

Continued world population growth results in increased emission of gases from agriculture, combustion of fossil fuels, and industrial processes. This causes changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere. Evidence is emerging that increased solar ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation is reaching the earth's atmosphere, due to stratospheric ozone depletion. Carbon dioxide (CO(2)), ozone (O(3)) a...

Rust fungi (Basidiomycetes of the order Uredinales) are obligate biotrophs that grow and reproduce only in living plant tissue. There are on the order of 5000 or more species of rust fungi that collectively cause disease on most crops, ornamentals, and many other plants. For example, rusts caused by Puccinia species are some of the most important diseases of wheat and other small grain crops wo...

Abscisic acid (ABA) plays an important role as a plant hormone and as such is involved in many different steps of plant development. It has also been shown to modulate plant responses to abiotic stress situations and in recent years, it has become evident that it is partaking in processes of plant defence against pathogens. Although ABA’s role in influencing the outcome of plant-pathogen intera...

over, the cell walls of some plants are modified by phenolic deposits in response to infection. Papillae or cell Increased digestibility of smooth bromegrass is associated with a wall apposition formation in epidermal cells of grasses, reduction in lignin concentration or etherified ferulic acid (EthFA) rich in lignin or lignin-like compounds, have been reconcentration, either of which may redu...

Plant diseases are an important constraint on worldwide crop production, accounting for losses of 10–30% of the global harvest each year [1]. As a consequence, crop diseases represent a significant threat to ensuring global food security. To feed the growing human population it will be necessary to double food production by 2050, which will require the sustainable intensification of world agric...

introduction: soil contaminations with heavy metals represent a potential risk to the biosphere and leads to increased concentration in ground and surface water. therefore metals mobility in soil has been extensively studied in the last decades. use of agrochemicals such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has resulted in soil and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. cadmium is a heav...

Residues of glyphosate, a potent herbicide, are increasingly found in diverse environments.Glyphosate residues soil alter plant physiological processes; however, their effects on defense strategies and subsequent species interactions poorly understood.Glyphosate inhibition the shikimate pathway affects defense-related phytohormones phenylpropanoid pathway, basis for many phytoalexins.Glyphosate...

Mycorrhizal fungi are key components of soil biodiversity that offer potential to provide sustainable solutions for land management, notably in agriculture and forestry. Several studies conducted controlled environments show functional attributes common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs), which inter-link different plants, influenced by management practices. Here, we highlight the need consider how af...