Carbohydrates in plant immunity and plant protection: roles and potential application as foliar sprays

Abstract

Increasing interest is devoted to carbohydrates for their roles in plant immunity. Some of them are elicitors of plant defenses whereas other ones act as signaling molecules in a manner similar to phytohormones. This review first describes the main classes of carbohydrates associated to plant immunity, their role and mode of action. More precisely, the state of the art about perception of “PAMP, MAMP, and DAMP (Pathogen-, Microbe-, Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns) type” oligosaccharides is presented and examples of induced defense events are provided. A particular attention is paid to the structure/activity relationships of these compounds. The role of sugars as signaling molecules, especially in plant microbe interactions, is also presented. Secondly, the potentialities and limits of foliar sprays of carbohydrates to stimulate plant immunity for crop protection against diseases are discussed, with focus on the roles of the leaf cuticle and phyllosphere microflora.

Preharvest treatments with chitosan and other alternatives to conventional fungicides to control postharvest decay of strawberry

“…appeared to benefit more from the treatments with laminarin than those of the 'Alba' cv. Laminarin is a resistance inducer that can activate plant defense systems (Trouvelot et al, 2014). It was shown to reduce postharvest diseases of sweet cherry (Feliziani, Santini, Landi, & Romanazzi, 2013a), and to elicit defense responses in grapevine, where it can induce protection against B. cinerea and Plasmopara viticola (Aziz et al, 2003).…”

Chitin and chitin-related compounds in plant–fungal interactions

“…Since the 1980s, crab and shrimp shell powder chitin and its deacetylation product chitosan have been used for crop farming as biopesticides, biofertilisers, and in seed coating formulation, and agricultural film (Ha and Huang 2007; El Hadrami et al 2010; Trouvelot et al 2014). …”

Genome-Wide Association of Stem Water Soluble Carbohydrates in Bread Wheat

“…Firstly, various studies indicated that WSC content of cold-tolerant cultivars were higher than in less tolerant cultivars [18]. Secondly, WSC not only supply energy required for plant defense, but also serve as signals for the regulation of defense genes [19–21]. Overall, WSC are involved in a complex communication system necessary for coordination of metabolism with growth, development, and response to environmental changes and stress [22–23].…”