Description

An overview of major pathogens and their control, plant defense mechanisms, and pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins and their roles in pathogen control is presented herein. Vitis vinifera, including wine grape and table grape, is one of the most valuable horticultural crops in the world because of its commercial use. However, V. vinifera cultivars are extremely susceptible to pathogens, particularly fungi and oomycetes, such as Botrytis cinerea and Plasmopara viticola, respectively. Plants have various defense mechanisms to counter these pathogens. One example is induced resistance, which involves the induction of the immune system in the event of a pathogen attack, including the generation of PR proteins. Some PR proteins possess antimicrobial activity. PR proteins are classified into 17 families, some of which are found in grape. Thus, their roles in grape have been actively studied. A new strategy to increase plant resistance to pathogens has been developed. A good understanding of grape defense mechanism through PR proteins is expected to open new doors to improve grape quality and yield by efficiently controlling pathogens in the future.

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