Unit V

Breeding for disease and insects resistance:

genetics of disease and insects resistance,
types of disease resistance, methods of
breeding used for disease and insects
resistance, mechanism of insects resistance

selection in clonal crops: breeding methods in

asexually propagated crops, clonal selection
and hybridization
The various features of host plant that make the host undesirable for insects food,
shelter, or reproduction.

A.Non preference

B.Non acceptance

C.Antixenosis

D.All of above
Programmed cell death (PCD) is associated with:

A. Mechanical
B. Hypersensitivity
C. Nutritional
D. Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR)
Breeding for disease and insects
resistance
Contents

1. Genetics of disease and insects resistance

2. Methods of breeding used for disease and insects
resistance
3. Mechanism of insects resistance
 Stress

Stress refers to adverse condition for the crop growth and

production imposed by either environmental factors or
biological factors.
 Types of stress

1.Biotic
2.Abiotic

Biotic: The stress that is caused by biological agents, such

as disease, insects, and parasitic weed.

Abiotic: When the stress is caused by environmental factors

or non biological factors, such as moisture, temp., light etc.
 Genetics of Insect Resistance in Plant

The inheritance of insect resistance may be governed in three

ways
1)Oligogenes
2)Polygenes
3)Cytoplasmic gene
In some cases, insect resistance is governed by one or few genes.
Examples of oligogenic insect resistance include in wheat to
Hessian fly and stem sawfly, in barley to green bugs, in alfalfa to
pea aphid, in cotton to Jassids, in apple to woolly aphid etc. The
oligogenic resistance from one host to another is simple.

In some cases, insect resistance is governed by several genes each

gene having small and additive effect. Examples of polygenic
insect resistance are: in wheat to cereal leaf beetle, in rice to stem
borer, in maize to ear worm and leaf aphid, in alfalfa to spotted
aphid, etc.

Sometimes, insect resistance is governed by cytoplasmic genes.

Examples, resistance to European corn borer in maize.
Genetics of Insect Resistance in Some Crop
Plants
 Mechanisms of Insect Resistance

There are four mechanisms of insect resistance

1.Non-preference
2.Antibiotics
3.Tolerance
4.Avoidance or escape

The first three mechanisms were given by Painter (1951).

A resistant variety may have one, two or more of these
mechanisms.
1. Non – preference

Non preference refers to various features of host plant that make

the host undesirable for unattractive to insects for food, shelter, or
reproduction. This type of insect resistance is also known as non
acceptance and antixenosis.

Various plant character which are associated with non preference

include colour, light penetration, hairiness, leaf angle, odour and taste.

For example, in cotton red plant body, smooth leaves, leaf, open
canopy, thickness and long pedicel are examples of non preference
to bollworms, and hairiness of leaf and stem is non preference for
jassids.
Non Preference Mechanism of Insect Resistance in Some
Crop Plants
2. Antibiosis

Antibiosis refers to the adverse effect of host plant on the

development and reproduction of insect pests which feed on
resistant plant.

In some cases, antibiotics may lead even to death of an insect.

In cotton, antibiotics is related with high level of gossypol, tannins

and silica contents, antibiotics may involve morphological,
physiological and biochemical features of the host plant.
Antibiotics Mechanism of Insect Resistance in Some Crop
Plants
3. Tolerance

Tolerance refers to the ability of a variety to produce

greater yield than susceptible variety at the same level of
insect attack.

In other words, a tolerant variety will give higher yield than

susceptible one despite the insect attack.
4. Avoidance or Escape

Avoidance refers to escape of a variety from insect

attack either due to earliness or its cultivation in the
season where insect population is very low.

For example, early maturing cotton varieties escape pink

bollworm infestation which occurs late in the season.
Disease
 Mechanism of Disease Resistance

The various mechanisms of disease resistance are as

follows:
1)Mechanical
2)Hypersensitivity
3)Nutritional
4)Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR)
1) Mechanical

Certain mechanical and or anatomical features of the host may

prevent infection.
For example, closed flowering habit of wheat and barley prevents
infection by the spores of ovary infecting fungi.

2) Hypersensitivity

In a large number of cases, immune reaction is due to the

hypersensitive reaction of the host.
This mechanism is found in case of biotrophic organism or obligate
parasites.
The HR is one kind of programmed cell death (PCD)
associated with the death of a small number of cells at
and around the site of infection.
1. The hypersensitive response (HR) is a complex,
early defense response that causes necrosis and
cell death to restrict the growth of a pathogen.

2. The HR is characterized by the rapid death of cells

in the local region surrounding an infection.

3. The HR serves to restrict the growth and spread of

pathogens to other parts of the plant.
 3) Nutritional

The reduction is growth and in spore production is generally

supposed to be due to an unfavourable physiological
conditions within the host.

Most likely, a resistant host does not fulfil the nutritional

requirements of the pathogen and thereby limits its growth
and reproduction.
4. SYSTEMIC ACQUIRED RESISTANCE
(SAR)

The signals that lead to systemic expression of the

antimicrobial PR (pathogenesis-related) genes in the un
inoculated distal tissue to protect the rest of the plant from
secondary infection. This phenomenon is called systemic
acquired resistance (SAR).
SYSTEMIC ACQUIRED RESISTANCE
IMPORTANCE
Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is an important component
of plant defense against pathogen infection.
Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is a mechanism of induced
defense that confers long-lasting protection against a broad
spectrum of microorganisms.
SAR requires the signal molecule salicylic acid (SA) and is
associated with accumulation of pathogenesis-related proteins,
which are thought to contribute to resistance.
SA is apparently not the translocated signal but is involved in
transducing the signal in target tissues.
 Genetics of Disease Resistance in Plant

1. Oligogenic Inheritance

2. Polygenic Inheritance

3. Cytoplasmic

Inheritance
Genetics of Disease Resistance in Some Crop
Plants
Methods of Breeding for Disease and Insect
Resistance
The following breeding methods have commonly used,
1)Introduction
2)Selection
3)Mutation
4)Hybridization
5)Somaclonal Variation
6)Genetic engineering
1. Introduction

plant introduction is the process of taking / introducing plants/

genotype or group of genotype into new environment where they
were not being grown before.

This is easy and rapid method of developing disease resistant

variety.
The resistant variety may be introduced and after testing, if found
suitable, can be released in the disease prone area.
Introduction may be classified into two categories:
a) Primary
b) Secondary

a) Primary Introduction:
When the introduced variety is well suited to the new environment
and is directly released for commercial cultivation without any
change the original genotype, known as primary introduction.

Ex. Introduction of semi dwarf wheat varieties Sonora, Lerma

Rojo and semi dwarf Rice Var. TN-1, IR-8, IR-28, and IR-36.
2)  Secondary Introduction:
The introduced variety is subjected to selection or may be
hybridized with local variety to transfer one or few desirable
characters to the local variety, known as secondary introduction.

Ex. Kalyan sona and sonalika varieties selected from the material
introduced from CIMMYT.
2. Selection

When the source of resistance is a cultivated variety, mass

selection and pure lines selection in self pollinated crops, mass
and recurrent selection in cross pollinated species, and clonal
selection in the vegetatively propagated crops will be ideal for
isolating disease resistant plants.

The resistant plants may be multiplied, screened for disease

resistance and released a variety.
3. Hybridization

Hybridization is used when resistant genes are available

either in the germplasm or in wild species of crop plants.

After hybridization, the hybrid material is handled either by

pedigree method or by backcross method.

The pedigree method is used when the resistance is governed

by polygene.

The backcross method is used when resistance to governed

by oligogenes.
4. Mutation

Induced mutations are also use for disease resistance. Many

disease resistant varieties have been developed in various crops
through induced mutations.
Rapid method of disease resistance is:

A.Introduction method
B.Back Cross method
C.Genetic engineering
D.Mutation
5. Somaclonal Variation

Somaclonal variation is the variation seen in plants that have

been produced by plant tissue culture.

Disease resistant soma clonal variants can be obtained in the

following two ways,

Firstly, plants regenerated from cultured cells or their progeny

are subjected to disease test and resistant plants are isolated.

Secondly, cultured cells are selected for resistance to the

toxin or culture filterate produced by the pathogen and plants
are regenerated from the selected cell.
6. Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct

manipulation of an organism's genome using biotechnology.

It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of

cells, including the transfer of genes within and across species
boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms.

New DNA may be inserted in the host genome by first isolating

and copying the genetic material of interest using molecular
cloning methods to generate a DNA sequence, or by synthesizing
the DNA, and then inserting this construct into the host organism.

Ex. Bt-Cotton
 24. Clonal selection

Some agricultural crops and a large number of horticultural crops are asexually
propagated. Some common asexually propagated crops are sugarcane (S. officinarum), potato
(S.tuberosum), sweet potato (I. batatas), Colocasia (Taro), Arum, Dioscorea (yams), Mentha,
ginger (Zingiber sp.), turmeric (C. domestica), banana (Musa paradisiaca), etc., almost all the
fruit trees, e.g., mango (Mangifera indica), citrus (Citrus spp.), apples (P. malus), pears
(P.commun is), peaches (P. persica), litchi (Litchi chinensis), loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), etc:,
and many ornamentals and grasses. Many of these crops show reduced flowering and seed set,
'e.g., sugarcane, potato, sweet potato, banana, etc., and some varieties of these crops do not
flower at all. But many of these crops flower regularly and show satisfactory seed set. However
they are propagated asexually to avoid the ill effects of segregation and recombination, both
being the inevitable consequences of sexual reproduction.
Segregation and recombination produce new gene combinations due to which the
progeny differ from their parents in genotype and phenotype. Asexual reproduction, on the other
hand, produces progeny exactly identical to their parents in genotype because the progeny are
derived from vegetative cells through mitosis. The advantage of asexual reproduction is
immediately clear. It preserves the genotype of an individual indefinitely. It must be noted that
this does not depend on the homozygosity of the genotype of an individual. Any genotype is
preserved and. maintained through asexual reproduction. In contrast self-pollination preserves
and maintains only homozygous genotypes giving rise to purelines.
Characteristics of Asexually Propagated Crops
 A great majority of them are, perennial, e.g., sugarcane, fruit trees, etc. The annual
crops are mostly tuber crops, e.g., potato, cassava (M. utilissima), sweet potato, etc.
 Many of them show reduced flowering-and seed set. Many varieties do not flower at
all. Only the crops grown for fruit, particularly where good fruit set depends upon
seed formation, show regular flowering and satisfactory seed set.
 They are invariably cross-pollinated.
 These crops are highly heterozygous and show severe inbreeding depression.
 A vast majority of asexually propagated crops are either polyploids, eg., sugarcane,
potato, sweet potato, etc., or have polyploid species or varieties.
  Many species are interspecific hybrid, eg., Banana (M. paradisiaca), sugarcane,
Rubus, etc.
 These crops consist of a large number of clones, that is, progeny derived from a
single plant through asexual reproduction. Thus each variety of an asexually
propagated crop is a clone.
Clone
A clone is group of plants produced from a single through asexual reproduction. Thus
asexually propagated crops consist of large number of clones, and they are often known as clonal
crops. All the members of a clone have the same genotype as the parent plant. As a result, they
are identical with each other in genotype. Consequently, the phenotypic differences within a
clone do not have a genetic basis and are purely due to the environmental effects. A selection
within a clone is thus useless. The various characteristic of a.clone are summarised below.
Identical Genotype
All the individuals belongings to a single clone are identical in genotype. This is so
because a clone is obtained through asexual reproduction, which involves mitotic cell division
only. Genetic variation in the progeny of a plant is produced chiefly by segregation and
recombination, which occur during meiosis only. Thus the genotype of a clone is maintained
indefinitely without any change.
Lack of genetic variation
The.phenotypic variation present within a clone is due to the environment only.This is so
because all the individuals belonging to a single clone have the same genotype.
The phenotype of a clone is due to the effects of genotype (G), the environment (E) and
the genotype X 'environment interaction (G x E) the population mean. (µ). Thus the phenotype
(P) of a clone may be expressed as follows.
P = µ + G + E + GE
Thus the phenotypic differences among clones would be partly due to E and GE components.
Hence the efficiency of selection among clones, as among purelines, would depend upon the
precision with which the E and GE components of phenotype are estimated.
Immortality
Theoretically, clones are immortal i.e., a clone can be maintained indefinitely through
asexual reproduction. But clones usually degenerate due to viral or bacterial infection. A clone
may become extinct due to its susceptibility to diseases or insect pests. Further, genetic variation
may arise within a clone changing its characteristics.
Severe Inbreeding Depression
Generally, clones are highly heterozygous and show severe loss in vigor due to
inbreeding.
Clonal Selection
The phenotypic value of a plant or clone is due to the effects of its genotype (G), the
environment (E) and genotype x environment (G x E) interaction. Of these, only the G effects are
heritable. The environmental and interaction effects are non heritable and cannot be selected for.
Therefore, a selection for quantitative characters based on observations on single plants is highly
unreliable. In fact, plants selected in this way may be no better than a random sample.
Further, a selection for characters like yielding ability, etc. on the basis of unreplicated
clonal plots would often be misleading and unreliable. Therefore, the value of a clone can be
reliably estimated only through replicated yield trials. However, selection for highly heritable
characteristics, such as plant height, days to flowering, color, disease resistance, etc., are easy
and effective even on the basis of individual plants or single plots. Clearly, these situations are
the same as those in the case of sexually reproducing crops.
Selection Procedure
In view of these considerations, in the earlier stages of clonal selection, when selection is
based on single plants or single plots, the emphasis is on the elimination of weak and undesirable
plants or clones. The breeder cannot reasonably hope to identify superior' genotypes at this stage.
In the later stages, when replicated trials are the basis of selection, the emphasis is to identify and
select the superior clones. The various steps involved in clonal selection are briefly described
below and are depicted in Fig.
1. First Year
From a mixed variable population, few hundreds to few thousand desirable plants are
selected. A rigid selection can be done for simply inherited characters with high heritability.
Plants with obvious weaknesses are eliminated.
2. Second Year
Clones from the selected plants are grown separately, generally, without replication This
is done in view of the limited supply of the propagating material for each clone, and because of
the large number of clones involved. The characteristics of clones will be more clear now than in
the previous generation when the observations were based on individual plants. The number of
clones is drastically reduced and inferior clones eliminated. The selection is based on visual
observations and on the basis of clonal characteristics. Fifty to one hundred clones may be
selected on the basis of clonal characteristics.
3. Third Year
Replicated preliminary yield trial is conducted. Suitable, checks included for
comparison. Few superior performing clones with desirable characteristics selected for
multilocation trials. At this stage, selection for quality is also done. If necessary, separate disease
nurseries may be planted to evaluate the disease resistance of selected clones.
4. Fourth to Sixth Years
Replicated yield trials are conducted at several locations along with a suitable check. The
yielding ability, quality and disease resistance, etc. of the clones are rigidly evaluated. The best
clone that is superior to the check in one or more characteristics is identified for release as a new
variety.
5. Seventh Year
The superior clone is multiplied released as a new variety.
Merits of Clonal Selection
 It is the only method of selection applicable to clonal crops. It avoids inbreeding
depression, and preserves the gene combinations present in the clones.
 Clonal selection, without any substantial modification, can be combined with
hybridization to generate the variability necessary for selection.
 The selection scheme is useful in maintaining the purity of clones.
Demerits of Clonal Selection
 This selection method utilizes the natural variability already present in the population; it
has not been devised to generate variability.
 Sexual reproduction is a prerequisite for the creation of variability through hybridization