Systemic acquired resistance (50 years after discovery): moving from the lab to the field

Induction of plant defense(s) against pathogen challenge(s) has been the object of progressively more intense research in the past two decades. Insights on mechanisms of systemic acquired resistance (SAR) and similar, alternative processes, as well as on problems encountered on moving to their practical application in open field, have been carefully pursued and, as far as possible, defined. In reviewing the number of research works published in metabolomic, genetic, biochemical, and crop protection correlated disciplines, the following outline has been adopted: 1, introduction to the processes currently considered as models of the innate immunity; 2, primary signals, such as salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), and abscisic acid (ABA), involved with different roles in the above-mentioned processes; 3, long-distance signals, identified from petiole exudates as mobile signaling metabolites during expressed resistance; 4, exogenous inducers, including the most significant chemicals known to stimulate the plant resistance induction and originated from both synthetic and natural sources; 5, fungicides shown to act as stimulators of SAR in addition to their biocidal action; 6, elusive mechanism of priming, reporting on the most recent working hypotheses on the pretranscriptional ways through which treated plants may express resistance upon pathogen attack and how this resistance can be transmitted to the next generation; 7, fitness costs and benefits of SAR so far reported from field application of induced resistance; 8, factors affecting efficacy of induced resistance in the open field, indicating that forces, unrevealed under controlled conditions, may be operative in the field; 9, concluding remarks address the efforts required to apply the strategy of crop resistance induction according to the rules of integrated pest management.