Transgenic Plants for Bacterial and Fungal Disease Tolerance

Transgenic plants are genetically manipulated by the insertion of genes directly into a single plant cell. Using genetic engineering techniques, DNA of plants is modified. Plant diseases occurred due to bacteria, fungi, and viruses have significantly contributed to greater loss in crop productivity globally. For the improvement of crops, classical methods play an important function while it is a very long and tedious process over genetic engineering. It alone cannot control bacterial, fungal, and viral plant diseases. Genetic engineering includes insertion, deletion, and alteration of specific genes of interest with minimum undesired changes to the remaining crop genome. Transgenic plants provide resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. The first transgenic plant that evolved in 1982 was an antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant. Transgenic plants expressing antimicrobial proteins, cecropins, lactoferrin, and antimicrobial peptides provide a defense to plants from bacterial pathogens. Also, for fungal disease resistance, transgenic plants produce antifungal compounds like chitinase, thaumatin-like protein, osmotin, and glucanase. This chapter provides information regarding genetically engineered plants, their resistance to bacterial and fungal pathogens, and prospective regulatory issues related to the release of genetically engineered crops.