Molecular Mechanisms of Insect Resistance in Rice and Their Application in Sustainable Pest Management

TL;DR

This review explores how rice plants resist insect pests and how this knowledge can be used to breed sustainable, insect-resistant rice varieties.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in rice insect resistance mechanisms and modern breeding strategies.

Findings

Key resistance genes like Bph14, Bph3, and Bph29 have been cloned and their roles in rice immunity clarified.

Plant hormone signaling pathways, such as salicylic acid and jasmonic acid, are crucial for rice defense against insect pests.

Modern techniques like gene pyramiding and transgenics are being used to develop durable insect-resistant rice varieties.

Abstract

Insect pests are a major cause of yield loss in rice, and breeding insect-resistant varieties is an effective way to reduce reliance on chemical pesticides. This review summarizes recent progress in understanding how rice plants resist insect pests such as the brown planthopper, rice gall midge, and white-backed planthopper. We highlight key resistance genes and explain how rice recognizes insect attacks and activates defense responses using plant hormone signaling pathways, including the salicylic acid and jasmonic acid pathways. The review also covers modern breeding techniques like molecular markers, gene pyramiding, and transgenic technologies, along with the significance of wild rice species as resistance sources. Overall, this work aims to support the development of durable, insect-resistant rice varieties and promote sustainable rice production amid changing pest pressures and climate conditions.

Rice is a key food crop worldwide, but its yield and quality are severely constrained by insect pests. As environmental and regulatory restrictions on chemical pesticides grow, developing insect-resistant rice varieties has become a sustainable way to protect food security. This review covers recent progress in functional genomics and molecular marker mapping related to insect resistance in rice. We highlight the identification, cloning, and functional analysis of resistance genes targeting major pests, including the brown planthopper, rice gall midge, white-backed planthopper, small brown planthopper, and rice leaf roller. Several important resistance genes (such as Bph14, Bph3, and Bph29) have been cloned, and their roles in rice immunity have been clarified—covering insect feeding signal recognition, activation of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid pathways, and regulation of MAPK cascades, calcium signaling, and reactive oxygen species production. We also discuss how molecular marker-assisted selection, gene pyramiding, and transgenic techniques are used in modern rice breeding. Finally, we address future challenges and opportunities, stressing the importance of utilizing wild rice germplasm, understanding insect effector–plant immune interactions, and applying molecular design breeding to create long-lasting insect-resistant rice varieties that can withstand changing pest pressures and climate conditions.

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