Tag Archives: Plant protection

Protecting sugar beet: BEET-Protect is designed to keep the reed glasswing planthopper away

By | August 5, 2025
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In electroantennography (EAG), a mixture of volatile substances flows past the antennae of the insect in question. A device records the antennae's response. This may require the insect's antennae or head to be severed. Credits: Bruna Czarnobai, Julius Kühn Institute

Researchers at the Julius Kühn Institute are investigating in a new project whether the pest insect can be lured away from or repelled from its host plants using scents. The sugar industry is funding the project with approximately €940.000 until 2028. Sugar beets and their domestic cultivation are currently threatened by two bacteria. The two pathogens (Candidatus Arsenophonus phytopathogenicus and Candidatus Phytoplasma solani) utilize the reed glasswing leafhopper… Read more »

Tomato plant: Poltergeist-like phosphatase directs natural defense against predators

By | July 7, 2025
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Caterpillar of the tobacco hawk moth. Credits: Andreas Schaller

Like all plants, tomato plants can defend themselves against herbivores: When wounded by predators, they release the signal peptide systemin, which is central to their defense mechanisms. Researchers at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart have now discovered how the systemin signal is processed within the cell. A key role is played by an enzyme with the remarkable name "Poltergeist-like phosphatase" (PLL2). It is produced by… Read more »

Against fungi and bark beetles: A mixture of monoterpenes is promising

By | June 24, 2025
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Credits: Anna Schroll, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

The Norway spruce (Picea abies), which for many decades was the "bread and butter" tree of the timber industry, has been weakened by years of drought and high temperatures. Monoculture cultivation exacerbated the problem: the large eight-toothed spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus), also known as the European spruce bark beetle, had an easy time of it. However, the beetle, which is about four to five millimeters long, does not carry out its destructive work alone, but together with… Read more »

Green genetic engineering: Novel active ingredient protects against cucumber mosaic virus

By | March 19, 2025
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Credits: Heiko Rebsch, University of Halle

A novel active ingredient reliably protects plants against the most common virus in agriculture and horticulture: cucumber mosaic virus. Developed by researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the active ingredient consists of RNA building blocks that support the plants' immune system in fighting the virus. Even with a high viral load, 80 to 100 percent of treated plants survived infection… Read more »

New findings: How plants defend themselves against pests

By | January 28, 2025
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Credits: Erik Karitz, pexels

A team led by biologist Prof. Dr. Jörg Kudla from the University of Münster has identified key components and mechanisms of the molecular machinery that relays information about a pest infestation within the plant organism. A central relay station is a calcium-activated kinase tandem. Plant pests such as bacteria and fungi cause significant yield losses in agriculture. To develop new strategies against such pests… Read more »

A fungus saves plants

By | January 10, 2025
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(Credits: Constanze Schulze/Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology)

The soil fungus *Malpinin* has the potential to make agriculture greener and more sustainable: The fungus produces bioactive molecules called malpinins, which could protect plants from destructive worms. A research team from Jena has now been able to understand and describe their mechanism of action for the first time. The study was published in the renowned Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). The story begins among our… Read more »