Controlling crop diseases using induced resistance: challenges for the future

A number of different types of induced resistance have been defined based on differences in signalling pathways and spectra of effectiveness, including systemic acquired resistance and induced systemic resistance. Such resistance can be induced in plants by application of a variety of biotic and abiotic agents. The resulting resistance tends to be broad-spectrum and can be long-lasting, but is rarely complete, with most inducing agents reducing disease by between 20 and 85%. Since induced resistance is a host response, its expression under field conditions is likely to be influenced by a number of factors, including the environment, genotype, crop nutrition and the extent to which plants are already induced. Although research in this area has increased over the last few years, our understanding of the impact of these influences on the expression of induced resistance is still poor. There have also been a number of studies in recent years aimed at understanding of how best to use induced resistance in practical crop protection. However, such studies are relatively rare and further research geared towards incorporating induced resistance into disease management programmes, if appropriate, is required.