Plant Pathogen Interactions in Strawberry Systems

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa and its wild relatives) hosts a broad spectrum of pathogens, including oomycetes, fungi and bacteria, which compromise yield and quality worldwide. Infection by Phytophthora cactorum induces crown rot, leading to wilting and plant death, while Colletotrichum species cause anthracnose on fruit and foliage. Strawberry defence relies on a multilayered innate immune system that recognises pathogen‐associated molecular patterns and deploys downstream signalling cascades mediated by salicylic acid, jasmonic acid and ethylene. Resistance is often quantitative and polygenic, involving diverse receptor‐like kinases, nucleotide‐binding leucine‐rich repeat proteins and pathogenesis‐related proteins. Secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, terpenoids and allergen‐like proteins contribute to chemical defence and interact with the microbiome. Advances in genomics and imaging provide new insights into pathogen invasion strategies and host responses, informing marker‐assisted breeding and potential gene‐editing targets for durable resistance in cultivated and wild strawberry germplasm.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent work has demonstrated the utility of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging to monitor Phytophthora cactorum progression in hydroponically grown strawberry plantlets. High‐resolution relaxation time and susceptibility maps revealed tissue‐specific changes in the crown region as infection advanced. Elevated T₁ and T₂ relaxation values distinguished infected from healthy tissues, enabling non‐invasive tracking of pathogen colonisation and structural alterations over time. These findings establish a novel phenotyping approach for early detection of crown rot and for assessing the efficacy of resistance traits in vivo.

Plant Pathogen Interactions in Strawberry Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in plant pathogen interactions in strawberry systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

RXLR effectors: Secreted oomycete proteins that enter plant cells to modulate host defences and promote infection.

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI): Non‐invasive technique that measures tissue relaxation times and susceptibility to visualise structural changes.

Crown rot: Disease of the strawberry crown caused by Phytophthora cactorum, leading to wilting and plant death.

Innate immunity: The plant’s first line of defence, involving recognition of conserved pathogen‐associated molecular patterns and activation of defence pathways.

Pathogen‐associated molecular patterns (PAMPs): Conserved microbial molecules recognised by plant receptors to trigger immune responses.

References

1. Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Novel Candidate Resistance Genes Involved in Defence against Phytophthora cactorum in Strawberry. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023).
2. Transcriptome analysis of Phytophthora cactorum infecting strawberry identified RXLR effectors that induce cell death when transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. Frontiers in Plant Science (2024).
3. Secondary Metabolites and Their Role in Strawberry Defense. Plants (2023).
4. Non-invasive assessment and visualization of Phytophthora cactorum infection in strawberry crowns using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging. Scientific Reports (2024).