BIOL 1108 Lecture 16: Chapter 32 Plant Defenses
Document Summary
Plants have evolved mechanisms to protect themselves from infection by pathogens, which includes viruses, bacteria, fungi, worms, and even parasitic plants. Pathogens do this by growing in and around tissues, extract resources to support their own growth, and cause an array of diseases. Plants getting sick is a major consequence for the plant not being able to keep out disease. The epidermis is the first line of defense. Biotrophic pathogens: obtain resources through living cells: viruses hijack a living cells machinery to reproduce. Necrotrophic pathogens: kill cell before exploiting them: make toxins to kills cells and feed on compounds that leak from dead and dying cells. Virulent: pathogens that overcome plant defenses and lead to disease. Avirulent: pathogen only damages a small part of the plant before the plant can contain the infection. Plants (like animals) can recognize a cell or virus as foreign.
