Disease resistance in crops is an important aspect of securing global food security. Resistant plants carry immune receptors that sense pathogen invasion often through the recognition of important pathogen virulence factors, known as effectors. Thus, identification and characterization of effectors is important for the fundamental understanding of ...
Plant-pathogenic microbes secrete effector molecules to establish disease on their hosts, whereas plants in turn employ immune receptors to try and intercept such effectors in order to prevent pathogen colonization. Based on structure and subcellular location, immune receptors fall into two major classes; cell surface-localized receptors that compr...
Currently, fungicides are necessary to protect potato crops against late blight, Phytophthora infestans, one of the world’s most damaging crop pathogens. The introgression of plant resistance genes from wild potato species targeted specifically to the late blight pathogen into susceptible potato varieties may alleviate the environmental impact of c...
Potato is affected by several diseases. Although, resistance can be obtained by introgression of major resistance genes from wild species, this has rarely been durable. Hence, other sources of resistance are highly needed. New research with a focus on loss of function mutations has led to the identification of disease susceptibility (S) genes in pl...
Gerbera hybrida is one of the top five cut flowers. It is well-known to people for its variation in flower color and patterning. Gerbera breeding at the moment is done using conventional methods which are based on a phenotypic selection. This has drawbacks in breeding speed and efficiency, especially for complex traits like disease resistance. Gerb...
Powdery mildew (PM) is a major fungal disease that threatens thousands of plant species. PM is caused by Podosphaera leucotricha in apple and Erysiphe necator in grapevine. Powdery mildew is controlled by frequent applications of fungicides, having negative effects on the environment, and leading to additional costs for growers. To reduce the amoun...
Projections on the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity foresee prolonged and/or increased stress intensities and enlargement of a significant number of pathogens habitats. This significantly raises the occurrence probability of (new) abiotic and biotic stress combinations. With stress tolerance research being mostly focused on res...
De biologische aardappelteelt heeft het in 2016 weer zwaar te verduren gehad met de hevige uitbraak van Phytophtora infestans. Door aanhoudende regenval in juni en juli waren veel telers genoodzaakt om hun percelen met aangetaste aardappelen al vroeg in het seizoen te branden. Gecombineerd met de late pootdatum hebben velen een (te) lage opbrengst ...
Infectious diseases in farm animals are of major concern because of animal welfare, production costs, and public health. Farms undergo huge economic losses due to infectious disease. The costs of infections in farm animals are mainly due to production losses, treatment of infected animals, and disease control strategies. Control strategies, however...
The aim of this thesis was to define and test biomarkers for disease resistance in dairy cows and to determine the underlying mechanism in natural disease resistance. The health status of the cows is an important issue in dairy farming. Due to the mandatory reduction in the use of antibiotics, alternatives are required to prevent the development an...
