Elicitors and Their Roles in Plant Defence Against Pathogens Particularly Basidiomycetes

Abstract

In recent years, elicitors of both biological and non-biological origins have attracted much attention in plant disease control as alternatives to chemical pesticides which are detrimental to environment and consumers. The purpose of this chapter is to review recent research on the use of elicitors in inducing plant immune responses against a wide variety of pathogens including economically important basidiomycetes. Bioactive signals such as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) or danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) can induce host resistance upon recognition by the specialised receptors of plants. Activation of PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI) or effector-triggered immunity (ETI) and their respective immune responses are dependent on the nature of elicitors. Most reviews to date have focused on the roles of elicitors in controlling diseases caused by bacterial pathogens, oomycetes and fungal pathogens from phylum Ascomycota. Here, we focus on the efficiency of elicitors in inducing resistance against several economically important basidiomycetes. It is envisaged that such knowledge will contribute to development of new strategies to effectively manipulate plant immunity for disease resistance.