Bioenergetic considerations in breeding for insect and pathogen resistance in plants

Abstract

The bioenergetic cost (glucose requirement to provide carbon skeletons and energy production) for the synthesis of 35 chemicals implicated as phytoalexins in combating fungal and bacterial infections as well as the allelochemicals responsible for non-preference or antibiosis in insect-plant interactions were calculated. Heat of combustion values which represent the intrinsic energy content of the molecule for these chemicals, were also computed. The results indicate that the energetic cost of the chemicals responsible for genetic resistance is not exceptionally higher. In fact, they are comparable to those of many fatty acids found in plants. Though the concentration of the chemicals responsible for resistance is low in plant tissues, the total amount per hectare is quite high and consequently the plant resources that go to produce these are high.