What Do We Know About the Genetic Basis of Plant Defensive Responses to Herbivores? A Minireview

Abstract

Plants are frequently attacked by herbivores and pathogens and have evolved constitutive and induced defences to prevent/diminish fitness costs. Here, we review recent progress in the study of the defence genes in plants. The sophisticated signalling network of plant defence responses is elicited and driven by both herbivore-induced factors (e.g. elicitors, effectors, and wounding) and plant signalling (e.g. phytohormone and plant volatiles) in response to arthropod factors. Genome-wide data offer many advantages over sparser sets of genetic markers. It is now possible to detect selection across the genome and detect if those selected genes are associated with the herbivory. Genomic tools are now allowing genome-wide studies, and recent theoretical advances can help to design research strategies that combine genomics and field experiments to examine the genetics of local adaptation (cf. Savolainen et al. 2013). Plant and arthropod genomics provide many opportunities to understand the plant immunity to arthropod herbivores. Also, it will provide new insights into basic mechanisms of chemical communication and plant-animal coevolution and may also facilitate new approaches to crop protection and improvement.