Plant Resistance to Insects


Book Description

What is plant resistance to insects? How is plant resistance to insects obtained? How can plant resistance to insects be utilized?




Host Plant Resistance to Insects


Book Description

Historical overview of host plant resistance; Crop plant and insect diversity; Secondary plant metabolites for insect resistance; Insect - plant interactions; Host plant selection; Mechanisms of resistance; Factors affecting expression of resistance; Screening for insect resistance; Plant resistance and insect pest management; Genetics of resistance to insects; Breeding for resistance to insects.




Induced Plant Resistance to Herbivory


Book Description

This timely book provides an overview of the anatomical, chemical, and developmental features contributing to plant defense, with an emphasis on plant responses that are induced by wounding or herbivore attack. The book first introduces general concepts of direct and indirect defenses, followed by a focused review of the different resistance traits. Finally, signal perception and transduction mechanism for the activation of plant defense responses are discussed.




Techniques for Evaluating Insect Resistance in Crop Plants


Book Description

This comprehensive book is the first illustrated volume to provide detailed discussions of all plant genera regarding techniques developed to evaluate plant resistance to insects. Many of the book's references have never before appeared in a volume on this subject. The authors systematically discuss techniques used to evaluate different types of insect behavior and plant morphological and phytochemical factors responsible for plant resistance and susceptibility to insects.




Integration of Insect-Resistant Genetically Modified Crops within IPM Programs


Book Description

Insect pests remain one of the main constraints to food and fiber production worldwide despite farmers deploying a range of techniques to protect their crops. Modern pest control is guided by the principles of integrated pest management (IPM) with pest resistant germplasm being an important part of the foundation. Since 1996, when the first genetically modified (GM) insect-resistant maize variety was commercialized in the USA, the area planted to insect-resistant GM varieties has grown dramatically, representing the fastest adoption rate of any agricultural technology in human history. The goal of our book is to provide an overview on the role insect-resistant GM plants play in different crop systems worldwide. We hope that the book will contribute to a more rational debate about the role GM crops can play in IPM for food and fiber production.




New Directions for Biosciences Research in Agriculture


Book Description

Authored by an integrated committee of plant and animal scientists, this review of newer molecular genetic techniques and traditional research methods is presented as a compilation of high-reward opportunities for agricultural research. Directed to the Agricultural Research Service and the agricultural research community at large, the volume discusses biosciences research in genetic engineering, animal science, plant science, and plant diseases and insect pests. An optimal climate for productive research is discussed.




Breeding Insect Resistant Crops for Sustainable Agriculture


Book Description

This book reviews and synthesizes the recent advances in exploiting host plant resistance to insects, highlighting the role of molecular techniques in breeding insect resistant crops. It also provides an overview of the fascinating field of insect-plant relationships, which is fundamental to the study of host-plant resistance to insects. Further, it discusses the conventional and molecular techniques utilized/useful in breeding for resistance to insect-pests including back-cross breeding, modified population improvement methods for insect resistance, marker-assisted backcrossing to expedite the breeding process, identification and validation of new insect-resistance genes and their potential for utilization, genomics, metabolomics, transgenesis and RNAi. Lastly, it analyzes the successes, limitations and prospects for the development of insect-resistant cultivars of rice, maize, sorghum and millet, cotton, rapeseed, legumes and fruit crops, and highlights strategies for management of insect biotypes that limit the success and durability of insect-resistant cultivators in the field. Arthropod pests act as major constraints in the agro-ecosystem. It has been estimated that arthropod pests may be destroying around one-fifth of the global agricultural production/potential production every year. Further, the losses are considerably higher in the developing tropics of Asia and Africa, which are already battling severe food shortage. Integrated pest management (IPM) has emerged as the dominant paradigm for minimizing damage by the insects and non-insect pests over the last 50 years. Pest resistant cultivars represent one of the most environmentally benign, economically viable and ecologically sustainable options for utilization in IPM programs. Hundreds of insect-resistant cultivars of rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, cotton, sugarcane and other crops have been developed worldwide and are extensively grown for increasing and/or stabilizing crop productivity. The annual economic value of arthropod resistance genes developed in global agriculture has been estimated to be greater than US$ 2 billion Despite the impressive achievements and even greater potential in minimizing pest- related losses, only a handful of books have been published on the topic of host-plant resistance to insects. This book fills this wide gap in the literature on breeding insect- resistant crops. It is aimed at plant breeders, entomologists, plant biotechnologists and IPM experts, as well as those working on sustainable agriculture and food security.




Plant Resistance to Herbivores and Pathogens


Book Description

Far from being passive elements in the landscape, plants have developed many sophisticated chemical and mechanical means of deterring organisms that seek to prey on them. This volume draws together research from ecology, evolution, agronomy, and plant pathology to produce an ecological genetics perspective on plant resistance in both natural and agricultural systems. By emphasizing the ecological and evolutionary basis of resistance, the book makes an important contribution to the study of how phytophages and plants coevolve. Plant Resistance to Herbivores and Pathogens not only reviews the literature pertaining to plant resistance from a number of traditionally separate fields but also examines significant questions that will drive future research. Among the topics explored are selection for resistance in plants and for virulence in phytophages; methods for studying natural variation in plant resistance; the factors that maintain intraspecific variation in resistance; and the ecological consequences of within-population genetic variation for herbivorous insects and fungal pathogens. "A comprehensive review of the theory and information on a large, rapidly growing, and important subject."—Douglas J. Futuyma, State University of New York, Stony Brook




Breeding for Resistance to Diseases and Insect Pests


Book Description

The object of this book is to provide insight into the principles of disease and insect-pest resistance and to elaborate the resistance breeding practices with specific examples from as many different crops and parasites as possible. It is assumed that the readers are already in possession of some knowledge of plant pathogens and insect pests and their genetics from standard courses and text books. The book can be used for teaching an advanced course on the subject, such as in university lectures to graduate students. In addition, it should be useful as a reference book to plant pathologists, entomologists and plant breeders engaged in developing varieties resistant to harmful paraƯ sites. I wish to express my sincere thanks to Dr. B.D. Singh, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, Dr. D. Sharma and Dr. S. Dwivedi, ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India; Dr. I.S. Singh and Dr. A.K. Bhattacharya, G.B. Pant UniƯ versity of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India, who made comments on some sections of the book. Thanks are also due to Dr. D.N. Chaudhary, Dr. R.P.S. Verma and Mr. K.R. Reddy, who have given valuable help in one way or another in the publicaƯ tion of this book. I express my sincere thanks to Professor 1.S. Nanda, ExƯ Professor Plant Breeding in G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and TechnoƯ logy, Pantnagar, India for inspiring me to write this book. However, responƯ sibility for errors and misinterpretations is entirely mine.




Experimental Techniques in Host-Plant Resistance


Book Description

The earliest land-plants evolved around 450 million years ago from aquatic plants devoid of vascular systems. The diversification of flowering plants (angiosperms) during the Cretaceous period is associated with speciation in insects. Early insect herbivores were mandibulate, but the evolution of vascular plants led to the co-evolution of other forms of herbivory, such as leaf feeding, sap-sucking, leaf mining, tissue borer, gall forming and nectar-feeding. Plant defense against biotic stress is an adaptive evolution by plants to increase their fitness. Plants use a variety of strategies to defend against damage caused by herbivores. Plant defense mechanisms are either inbuilt or induced. Inbuilt mechanisms are always present within the plant, while induced defenses are produced or mobilized to the site where a plant is injured. Induced defense mechanisms include morphological, physiological changes and production of secondary metabolites. Host plant resistance (HPR) is one of the eco-friendly methods of pest management. It protects the crop by making it less suitable or tolerant to the pest. While books on theoretical aspects of HPR are available, an exclusive book on the practical aspects is lacking. There is a wide gap between the theory and the experimental procedures required for conducting studies on plant resistance for the post graduate students and young researchers. A dire need for a book on practical aspects was strongly felt. Initially a practical manual was prepared which eventually evolved into the present book. We hope this book provides information on major aspects of screening crop germplasm, sampling techniques, genetic and biochemical basis of HPR, behavioural studies on pheromone and plant volatiles, and some of the recent approaches in HPR. Further, the references provide the scientific articles and books as additional information to readers and workers alike.