Disease resistance

What is disease resistance?

Disease resistance refers to the ability of a plant to restrict, slow down, or prevent the development of a pathogen or insect that could cause disease. There are several types of disease resistance in plants:

• Horizontal resistance - provides resistance to multiple strains of a pathogen and operates at all growth stages of the plant. It is generally governed by multiple genes.


• Vertical resistance - protects the plant from specific strains of a pathogen and is controlled by a single gene. However, it can be easier for pathogens to evolve to overcome this type of resistance.

Quantitative resistance exhibits intermediate features between horizontal and vertical resistance. There are several mechanisms behind disease resistance in plants:

• Hypersensitive response - the plant cells around an infection site rapidly die to prevent the spread of the pathogen. This restrict binding system or cell surface surveillance system to destroy infecting pathogens.


• Systemic acquired resistance - once a plant is infected in one part, defense responses are triggered throughout the entire plant. The plant produces pathogenesis-related proteins that stop the spread of infection.

There are many benefits to selecting and breeding plants with genetic disease resistance:

• Reduces or eliminates the need for pesticides and fungicides, which saves farmers money


• Environmentally friendly and sustainable approach


• Maintains crop yield and quality


• Less toxin accumulation in plants and soil

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Some key questions on disease resistance in plants:

What types of disease resistance are there? There is horizontal resistance (effective against multiple strains), vertical resistance (effective against specific strains but can be overcome by pathogens), and quantitative resistance.

How exactly do disease resistance mechanisms work? Through hypersensitive cell death response around infections, systemic signaling throughout the plant, and production of pathogenesis-related proteins to inhibit pathogen spread and growth.

Why is breeding for disease resistance useful? It reduces pesticide needs, is environmentally friendly, maintains crop yield/quality, and lowers toxin levels in plants and soil.