Engineering resistance to sigatoka

Abstract

Abstract

Bananas and plantains are the major staple food in the tropical and sub- tropical regions. Currently the global banana production is affected by

both quality- and yield-limiting by foliar fungal disease, the black sigatoka caused by Mycosphaerella fi jiensis . The management of the disease by chemical approach has been relatively successful; however indiscriminate usage of chemicals has negative impact on human life and environment. Heavy reliance on fungicides has increased the chance of development of

pathogen resistance. The conventional breeding approach can be a rela- tively impressive strategy in the development of disease-resistant culti- vars, but it has become increasingly diffi cult due to male sterility, narrow

genetic bases, and polyploidy nature. The advances in molecular biologi- cal techniques have provided the deeper insights into pathogen and plant

defense mechanism, which have opened new avenue for the improvement of banana through genetic engineering. In the current review, the potential strategies used to enhance the resistance to sigatoka through genetic engi- neering employing different approaches like overexpression of pathogenesis- related protein (PR) antifungal proteins and bacterial hydro-lytic enzymes and utilization of RNAi-mediated gene silencing of pathogenesis- related protein encoded by pathogens are summarized.