This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have developed a way to "supercharge" a plant's natural immune response. The laboratory experiments were conducted on Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant from the same Brassicaceae family as commonly eaten vegetables such as chye sim and kai lan.
The plants, engineered with an enhanced immune system, had about 53% less bacterial growth than control plants without the enhancement, based on bacterial counts measured in pathogen infection assays. The researchers also found that the stronger immune response did not affect normal plant growth. Published in Science Advances, the study uses synthetic protein engineering to modify immune receptors and strengthen the plants' ability to combat disease-causing microbes.
The researchers have filed patent applications covering two technologies used in this research through NTUitive, the university's innovation and enterprise company. The NTU research team believes its approach could lead to more disease-resilient vegetable seeds and crops. The researchers are also working on ways to apply the same principle to food crops that are already growing, including designer stimulants that could be applied directly to plants to improve their immune response to diseases.
Disease resistance is particularly important in indoor and vertical farms, where large numbers of similar crops are often grown close together. If a disease-causing pathogen enters such a farm, it could spread rapidly through the crop. Plants have receptors on the surface of their cells that work like guards at a watchtower, detecting signs of potentially harmful bacteria and other microbes.
In their lab experiments, the NTU researchers found that grouping these receptors together in the right numbers could put the plant on a higher state of alert, enabling it to recognize an intruder more effectively and trigger a stronger immune response. But more was not always better. Packing too many receptors together produced a strong initial response but interfered with their normal renewal, weakening the plant's long-term defense.
Miao Yansong, a professor at NTU's School of Biological Sciences who led the study, said, "Our method is similar to putting more guards at a watchtower. Having the right number makes it easier to spot an intruder and respond quickly, but having too many can get in the way. The team found an optimum arrangement that strengthens and sustains the immune response without affecting the plant's normal growth." The researchers studied an immune receptor known as flagellin sensing 2, or FLS2, which detects flagellin, a protein associated with many bacteria.
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