Strawberry fatty acyl glycosides enhance disease protection, have antibiotic activity and stimulate plant growth.

An increasing interest in the development of products of natural origin for crop disease and pest control has emerged in the last decade. Here we introduce a new family of strawberry acyl glycosides (SAGs) formed by a trisaccharide (GalNAc-GalNAc-Glc) and a monounsaturated fatty acid of 6 to 12 carbon atoms linked to the glucose unit. Application of SAGs to Arabidopsis thaliana (hereafter Arabidopsis) plants triggered a transient oxidative burst, callose deposition and defense gene expression, accompanied by increased protection against two phytopathogens, Pseudomonas viridiflava and Botrytis cinerea.

Cereal Circular RNAs (circRNAs): An Overview of the Computational Resources for Identification and Analysis.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a widespread class of endogenous noncoding RNAs and they have been studied in the past few years, implying important biological functions in all kingdoms of life. Recently, circRNAs have been identified in many plant species, including cereal crops, showing differential expression during stress response and developmental programs, which suggests their role in these process. In the following years, it is expected that insights into the functional roles of circRNAs can be used by cereal scientists and molecular breeders with the aim to develop new strategies for crop improvement.

The Genetic Transformation of Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) for Enhanced Resistance to Citrus Canker.

Developing disease resistance is one of the most important components of any plant breeding program. Citrus traditional breeding methods (bud sport selection, crossbreeding, and other breeding channels) are a laborious task and often hampered by long juvenility, a high degree of heterozygosity, polyembryony, self-incompatibility, and abortion of reproductive organs. An interesting alternative to the classical breeding approach is the use of genetic transformation, which provides the means for adding a single agronomic trait to a plant without otherwise altering its phenotype.

The ellagitannin HeT induces electrolyte leakage, calcium influx and the accumulation of nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide in strawberry.

HeT (1-0-galloyl-2,3; 4,6-bis-hexahydroxydiphenoyl-β-D-glucopyranose) is a penta-esterified ellagitannin obtained from strawberry leaves. Previous studies have shown that foliar application of HeT prior to inoculation with a virulent pathogen increases the resistance toward Colletotrichum acutatum in strawberry plants and to Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri in lemon plants.

Inducible expression of Bs2 R gene from Capsicum chacoense in sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) confers enhanced resistance to citrus canker disease.

Transgenic expression of the pepper Bs2 gene confers resistance to Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria (Xcv) pathogenic strains which contain the avrBs2 avirulence gene in susceptible pepper and tomato varieties. The avrBs2 gene is highly conserved among members of the Xanthomonas genus, and the avrBs2 of Xcv shares 96% homology with the avrBs2 of Xanthomonas citri subsp.

Pathogen-induced accumulation of an ellagitannin elicits plant defense response.

In an incompatible interaction between Colletotrichum fragariae and strawberry plants, the accumulation of phenolic compounds in plant leaves was observed. A particularly abundant penta-esterified ellagitannin that accumulated in response to pathogen attack was identified as 1-0-galloyl-2,3;4,6-bis-hexahydroxydiphenoyl-β-d-glucopyranose (HeT) by mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. Foliar application of purified HeT prior to inoculation with a virulent pathogen was shown to increase resistance toward C.