Plants can suffer from infections caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses,
nematodes, and other pathogens. Various high-tech approaches have been
proposed to protect plants from harmful afflictions.
To date, most interest has been focused on virus resistant transgenic
plants, but using biotechnology to confer resistance to fungi, bacteria, or
nematodes has also been gaining attention.

Fighting fungal infections

Fungi are responsible for a range of serious plant diseases such as
blight, grey mould, bunts, powdery mildew, and downy mildew. Crops of all
kinds often suffer heavy losses.

Fungal plant diseases are usually managed with applications of
chemical fungicides or heavy metals. In some cases, conventional breeding
has provided fungus resistantcultivars.

Besides combatting yield losses, preventing fungal infection keeps
crops free of toxic compounds produced by some pathogenic fungi. These
compounds, often referred to as mycotoxins, can affect affect the immune
system and disrupt hormone balances. Some mycotoxins are carcinogenic.

Fungus resistant GM plants

Genetic engineering enables new ways of managing fungal infections.
Several approaches have been taken:

- Introducing genes from other plants or bacteria encoding enzymes
like chitinase or glucanase: These enzymes break down chitin or glucan,
respectively, which are essential components of fungal cell walls.

- Introducing plant genes to enhance innate plant defense mechanisms
(e.g. activing phytoalexins, proteinase inhibitors, or toxic proteins).

- Invoking the hypersensitive reaction: Plants varieties that are
naturally resistant to specific types of fungal diseases are often
programmed to have individual cells quickly die at the site of fungal
infection. This response, known as the hypersensitive reaction, effectively
stops an infection in its tracks. Genetic engineering can help plant cells
'know' when a fungus is attacking.

No commercial cultivars available today use these approaches.

Viral diseases

Viruses cause many economically important plant diseases. For example,
the Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) causes sugar beets to have
smaller, hairier roots, reducing yields by up to 50 percent. The spread of
most viruses is very difficult to control. Once infection sets in, no
chemical treatment methods are available. Losses are usually very high and
require longer rotation intervals and modified cropping systems. This
translates into considerable losses.

Viruses are often transmitted from plant to plant by insects.
Insecticides are sometimes used to control viral infections, but success is
very limited.

The most effective ways of managing viruses are cultural controls
(e.g. removing diseased plants) and using resistant cultivars. Although
conventional methods of breeding have been able to provide some virus
resistant or tolerant cultivars, they are not available for most corps.

Virus resistant GM plants

In some cases, biotechnology can be used to make virus resistant
crops. The most common way of doing this is by giving a plant a viral gene
encoding the virus' 'coat protein'. The plant can then produce this viral
protein before the virus infects the plant. If the virus arrives, it is not
able to reproduce.

The explanation for this is called cosuppression. The plant has ways
of knowing that the viral coat protein should not be produced, and it has
ways of eventually shutting down the protein's expression. When the virus
tries to infect the plant, the production of its essential coat protein is
already blocked.

All genetically modified virus resistant plants on the market (e.g.
papayas and squash) have coat protein mediated resistance. It may also be
possible to confer resistance by taking a resistance gene naturally found in
one plant and then transferring it to an important crop.


[www.gmo-compass.org]