Metabolites of plants and their role in resistance to phytopathogens

Abstract

Plant disease resistance is a complex reaction where biochemical peculiarities play a major role. The review is focused on two strategies of improvement of plant resistance to some groups of pathogens. The first strategy is based on a dependence of pathogens on certain plant compounds, i.e. sterols. The lack of these metabolites in a host plant repress pathogen development and reproduction. Here we present modern data on sterol metabolism and their functions in plants as well as description of known plant sterol mutants. The other way to improve plant resistance is to stimulate biosynthesis of secondary metabolites with antimicrobial activity. The roles of phytoalexins and steroid glycoalcoloids in the development of plant resistance is described here on certain examples