# Precision targeting: The dawn of artificially customized disease resistance

**Authors:** Xinyue Fan, Shanwu Lyu, Wenqian Fan, Jie Shu, Xiaofei Cheng

PMC · DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1013942 · PLOS Pathogens · 2026-02-10

## TL;DR

New methods in plant immunity are enabling customized disease resistance for better crop protection and food security.

## Contribution

The paper introduces novel bioengineering approaches for precision-targeted disease resistance in plants.

## Key findings

- Bioengineered immunoreceptors can be used to customize plant disease resistance.
- Protease-triggered resistance and the sentinel approach are new strategies for crop protection.
- These innovations offer a precision-targeted paradigm for managing plant diseases.

## Abstract

Advanced plant disease management strategies are essential to sustainable agriculture and global food security. Advances in plant immunity have given rise to a variety of innovative disease control strategies, such as NLR gene transfer, RNA silencing technology, and CRISPR/Cas9-based gene disruption, as well as the use of immunity inducers. Recently, several novel resistance strategies, including the bioengineering of immunoreceptors, protease-triggered resistance design, and the sentinel approach, have enabled the customized development of disease resistance traits. These new approaches envisage a new paradigm of precision-targeted, artificially engineered resistance to enhance crop protection.

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** CHRM1 (cholinergic receptor muscarinic 1) [NCBI Gene 1128] {aka HM1, M1, M1R}, EXOC7 (exocyst complex component 7) [NCBI Gene 23265] {aka 2-5-3p, BLOM4, EX070, EXO70, Exo70p, NEDSEBA}, RPS5 (ribosomal protein S5) [NCBI Gene 6193] {aka S5, uS7}
- **Diseases:** infection (MESH:D007239), NLRs (MESH:C537150), Plant (MESH:D010939), fungal (MESH:D009181)
- **Chemicals:** ProPeps (-), salicylic acid (MESH:D020156), SA (MESH:D000077145), OGAs (MESH:D009844), HC (MESH:D006854), calcium (MESH:D002118), ROS (MESH:D017382)
- **Species:** Bipolaris zeicola (species) [taxon 5017], Solanum lycopersicum (tomato, species) [taxon 4081], Arabidopsis thaliana (mouse-ear cress, species) [taxon 3702], Glycine max (soybean, species) [taxon 3847], Turnip mosaic virus (no rank) [taxon 12230], Oryza sativa (Asian cultivated rice, species) [taxon 4530], Nicotiana benthamiana (species) [taxon 4100], Tobacco etch virus (no rank) [taxon 12227]

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12890165/full.md

## Figures

1 figure with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12890165/full.md

## References

18 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12890165/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12890165