Resistance inducers and their role in reinforcing wheat defense system against fungal pathogens

Abstract

Plant resistance inducers (PRI) are emerged as a novel and prospective option to manage fungal diseases in agriculture, as they offer improved plant protection in an environmentally safe and economically sound manner. A galaxy of resistance inducing compounds of different origins have been reported and tested in different plant-pathogen systems. Published literature illustrate that the mechanism of action of PRI molecules differs from agrochemicals as they protect plant from pathogen via stimulating plant defense machinery. Moreover, resistance inducers can be integrated with biological control agents and even fungicides, which could result in reduced use of agrochemicals in agriculture. A plenty of biological control agents are identified and validated for field usages, but further expansion in product development and their effective deployment in wheat and other disease management will inevitably require in depth knowledge and understanding of multifaceted interactions operating between plant and microbe. The current review offers an overview of PRI’s that have been tested in wheat in order to activate wheat’s own defense system for attaining durable protection against fungal invasions. Additional attempts have been made to highlight the nature and applications of biological control based on induced resistance and their mechanism of action along with contemporary status and future developments with other measures of disease tactics in spatiotemporal manner.