Plant Molecular Farming of Antimicrobial Peptides for Plant Protection and Stress Tolerance

Eliana Valencia Lozano, José Luis Cabrera Ponce & Raul Alvarez Venegas

Te invitamos a leer el capítulo "Plant Molecular Farming of Antimicrobial Peptides for Plant Protection and Stress Tolerance" publicado en el libro "Applications of Plant Farming", en el que colaboraron Eliana Valencia Lozano, José Luis Cabrera Ponce y el Dr. Raul Alvarez Venegas de la Cinvestav Irapuato.

Autores:

Eliana Valencia Lozano, José Luis Cabrera Ponce y Raul Alvarez Venegas

Resumen:
Expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in economically significant plant species, particularly in popular crops, serves a dual purpose. Firstly, their antimicrobial properties can be harnessed for safeguarding plants in agriculture and, secondly, for the development of novel antimicrobial agents for medical applications. Moreover, the process of heterologous expression in plant-based systems, known as plant molecular farming, offers the advantage of yielding AMPs with proper eukaryotic folding and necessary posttranslational modifications, resulting in the production of biologically active substances. The emergence of second-generation biotechnology, enabling the isolation of genes governing desired traits and their precise modification or transfer into targeted varieties (such as intragenesis, cisgenesis, and genome editing), presents a valuable approach for enhancing plant defense responses to phytopathogens by boosting or altering the production of AMPs and defense-oriented phytochemicals. However, several other factors demand careful consideration. These include product yield, efficient extraction, evaluation of functionality and stability, appropriate storage procedures, and overall production costs. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of AMPs generated in transgenic plants to confer resistance against phytopathogens. It also explores advancements in crop improvement through genome editing, specifically aiming to foster the production of AMPs for plant protection. Furthermore, this chapter highlights key technologies with the potential to significantly enhance the production and productivity of AMPs in agricultural settings.