AMU faculty speaks on Immunity in Plants

Aligarh : Dr Aamir Raina, Botany Section, Women’s College, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) explained how plants like other living beings too need something to nourish them from the inside out, protect their precious fronds, and help them to not just grow, but flourish and become their most beautiful selves.

He was delivering an online guest lecture on ‘Immunity in Plants in The Era of Quick Pathogen Evolution’ in the webinar of the Postgraduate School Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia.

Speaking on the role of phytopathogens in disease progression in economically important crops, Dr Raina pointed out: “Certain phytopathogens can affect plants from the initial stage to the harvest—and plants must overcome the pathogenic mechanisms that produce the disease process to survive the harmful effects of such antagonistic interactions”.

“To mitigate the negative effects of potentially harmful pathogens plants have evolved different strategies and are continuously evolving in response to the evolution of new virulent races of pathogens”, he added.

Dr Raina said that the battle between pathogens and plants will continue and the role of agricultural scientists would be pivotal in improving the immunity of plants.

He delineated cell signaling mechanisms in plants and discussed how the hormones play pivotal roles in disease resistance to develop highly effective control measures against plant diseases.