Venturia inaequalis is the causal agent of apple scab, a devastating disease of apple. We outline several unique features of this pathogen which are useful for molecular genetics studies intended to understand plant-pathogen interactions. The pathogenicity mechanisms of the pathogen and overview of apple defense responses, monogenic and polygenic resistance, and their utilization in scab resist...

Broad-spectrum disease resistance against two or more types of pathogen species is desirable for crop improvement. In rice, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), the causal bacteria of rice leaf blight, and Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungal pathogen causing rice blast, are two of the most devastating pathogens. We identified the rice BROAD-SPECTRUM RESISTANCE 1 (BSR1) gene for a BIK1-like receptor-...

Nucleotide binding site leucine-rich repeats (NBS-LRR) accounting for the main disease resistance proteins play an important role in plant defense against pathogen attack. The current study aimed to identify new NBS-LRR gene members in native types of cucurbit species in Iran. Accordingly, DNAs of melon, cucumber and cantaloupe native types to Iran were identified using three primer pairs. PCR ...

Cucurbits powdery mildew is one of the most detrimental diseases of cucumber plants worldwide. A detailed insight into the biological processes leading to resistance or susceptibility to the pathogen would pave the road for an efficient disease-resistance breeding program. In the present study, the molecular and biochemical responses of a resistant vs. a susceptible cucumber cultivar infected w...

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common human bacterial infections. The frequent use of antibiotics is associated with increased resistance of many bacterial agents to the treatment.Materials and Methods: A total of 9456 urine specimens were collected from patients referring to Pol-e Dokhtar health centers. All urine samples were inoculated on blood agar plates...

Why is drug resistance common and vaccine resistance rare? Drugs and vaccines both impose substantial pressure on pathogen populations to evolve resistance and indeed, drug resistance typically emerges soon after the introduction of a drug. But vaccine resistance has only rarely emerged. Using well-established principles of population genetics and evolutionary ecology, we argue that two key dif...