The current reports on phytopathogens multidrug resistance have become a significant issue for plant health and global food security. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have recently gained generous attention as potential alternatives to prevent plant disease resistance because of their potent, multifarious antimicrobial activity. AMPs are low-weight protein molecules. Living organisms secrete a wide range of AMPs, with some synthesised by canonical gene expression, known as ribosomal AMPs, and non-ribosomal AMPs, synthesised by modular enzyme-generating systems. Plants produce an array of AMPs, yet they are still unknown to many infection processes of causal agents. Plant-derived AMPs have a wide range of structures and functions, and they induce an innate immune system in plants. The biologically active AMPs in plants mainly depend on direct and indirect interactions with membrane lipids. Transgenic plants have expressed several AMPs, the basis for the model of new synthetic analogues, to provide support against diseases. These peptides have shown significant ability to manage plant diseases and can provide an eco-friendly alternative to hazardous conventional methods. Here, we have a comprehensive study on AMPs to identify their role in plant pathogen stress suppression activities and their mode of action. This would surely facilitate a bottomless insight into AMPs' mode of action against pathogen infections. An improved understanding of the mechanism will facilitate the development of the next generation of antimicrobial peptides, potentially employing a multitargeted approach.

The potato originated in southern Peru and north-western Bolivia (South America). However, native accessions have also been cultivated in India for many years. Late blight, caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans, is the most devastating potato disease, while potato cyst nematode (Globodera spp.) (PCN) is another economically significant quarantine-requiring pest in India. In this study, we have generated a new Indian native collection of 94 potato accessions collected from different parts India. These accessions were screened against late blight and potato cyst nematode resistance by using gene-based molecular markers and phenotypic screening methods. Marker assisted selection using R1 gene-specific marker CosA₂₁₀ revealed a late blight resistance gene in 11 accessions. PCN resistance bands were found in 3 accessions with marker TG689₁₄₁, 5 accessions with marker 57R₄₅₂, and 1 accession having Gro1-4-1₆₀₂ marker for G. rostochiensis (Ro1,4), while 64 accessions amplified marker HC₂₇₆ indicating G. pallida (Pa2,3) resistance gene (GpaV_vrn QTL). On the other hand, phenotypic screening against late blight resistance under natural epiphytic conditions (hot-spot) revealed three accessions with high resistance, while others were resistant (1 accession), moderately resistant (5 accessions), susceptible (29 accessions), and highly susceptible (56 accessions). For G. rostochiensis (golden cyst nematode) and G. pallida (white cyst nematode) resistance, accessions were grouped into highly resistant (3, 3), resistant (0, 2), moderately resistant (6, 29), susceptible (32, 30), and highly susceptible (53, 30), respectively, for the two PCN species. Collectively, we identified promising accessions with high resistance to late blight (JG-1, Kanpuria Safed, and Rangpuria), and also highly resistant to both Globodera species (Garlentic, Jeevan Jyoti, and JG-1). Our findings suggested that these accessions would be useful for late blight and PCN resistance breeding, as well as future molecular studies in potatoes.

Health concerns related to the use of pesticides are increasing the interest in alternate use of pest and disease control strategies. Accordingly, different cultural practices, viz., trap cropping, soil solarization and nonsolanaceous crops were evaluated for the management of potato cyst nematode during summer 2013–14 and 2014–15. Among the potato cultivars used as trap crop, Kufri Jyoti attracted more PCN juveniles and recorded maximum reduction in cyst population than Kufri Swarna. In the succeeding crop Kufri Girdhari, wherein Kufri Jyoti used as trap crop recorded more yield than Kufri Swarna in both the spacings. In the soil solarisation experiment, minimum PCN reproduction factor (Rf) was recorded in soil solarisation followed by application of neem cake (@ 5 t/ha) in combination with Trichoderma viride (@ 5 kg/ha). The same treatment also produced significantly maximum yield during 2013–14 however, during 2014–15 the yield was found to be on par with soil solarisation + carbofuran (2 kg a.i./ha). All the non-solanaceous crops tested reduced the PCN multiplication ratio. Among different non-solanaceous crops, radish recorded 19.6–21.0% reduction in number of cysts and 12.2–16.2% reduction in number of eggs per cyst. Which was followed by garlic, it recorded 15.9–17.7% and 10.3–11.6% reduction in number of cysts and eggs respectively, during 2013–14 and 2014–15. Therefore, the above said treatments either alone or in combination can be used to manage the PCN.