Work

Plug-and-fight: engineering plant immunity by domain swapping

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Potato late blight severely threatens global food security. A recent comprehensive analysis of the NLR gene complement across diverse potato ( Solanum tuberosum ) genomes identified previously undescribed resistance genes. This analysis prompted the design of the “domain plug-in” engineering strategy, which involves swapping functional domains between NLRs to broaden the scope of disease resistance. This approach provides a transformative blueprint for designing crops with durable, broad-spectrum disease resistance.

Source: aBIOTECH

DOI: 10.1016/j.abiote.2026.100050

Authors: Yachun Su, Tingting Sun, Chuihuai You, Shoujian Zang, Youxiong Que

Institutions: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,190