Plants are endowed with innate immune system, which acts as a
surveillance system against possible attack by pathogens. Plant innate
immune systems have high potential to fight against viral, bacterial,
oomycete and fungal pathogens and protect the crop plants against wide
range of diseases. However, the innate immune system is a sleeping
system in unstressed healthy plants. Fast and strong activation of the
plant immune responses aids the host plants to win the war against the
pathogens. Plant hormone signaling systems including salicylate (SA),
jasmonate (JA), ethylene (ET), abscisic acid (ABA), auxins, cytokinins,
gibberellins and brassinosteroids signaling systems play a key role in
activation of the sleeping immune systems. Suppression or induction of
specific hormone signaling systems may result in disease development or
disease resistance. Specific signaling pathway has to be activated to
confer resistance against specific pathogen in a particular host. Two
forms of induced resistance, systemic acquired resistance (SAR) and
induced systemic resistance (ISR), have been recognized based on the
induction of specific hormone signaling systems. Specific hormone
signaling system determines the outcome of plant-pathogen interactions,
culminating in disease development or disease resistance. Susceptibility
or resistance against a particular pathogen is determined by the action
of the signaling network. The disease outcome is often determined by
complex network of interactions among multiple hormone signaling
pathways. Manipulation of the complex hormone signaling systems and fine
tuning the hormone signaling events would help in management of various
crop diseases. The purpose of the book is to critically examine the
potential methods to manipulate the multiple plant hormone signaling
systems to aid the host plants to win the battle against pathogens.
