Abstract
Here I introduce the novel procedure of artificial coevolution to expand the prevailing paradigms in agricultural pest management. The aim is to develop ‘smart’ crop resistance genes that make it possible to anticipate pest formation rather than reacting to it when the problem is already in full swing. Natural resistances in crops, like pesticides, have the inherent disadvantage of promoting counter-resistance through natural selection. As a result, harmful organisms will sooner or later adapt to crop resistance and become a pest. In the current state of science this is unpredictable and therefore pest control is reactive and causes major, yet largely unnecessary damage to economy, health and environment. I want to show that pest formation can be made predictable with smart resistance genes. Plant parasites and their host plants are engaged in a constant battle of attack-and-defense. In nature, such antagonistic interactions persist when adaptations are followed by counter-adaptations. Consequently, several key herbivore pest-species have evolved the ability to manipulate plants by secreting substances, mostly proteins, to hijack their host’s metabolism. These substances are called ‘effectors’ and their plant-targets ‘susceptibility genes’ (S-genes). Artificial coevolution aims to first obtain ‘smart’ resistance genes by identifying invulnerable allelic versions of S-genes and then to identify the pest’s counterpart alleles that will enable it to adapt to the smart resistance genes. The ‘adaptation-genes’ of pests can serve as diagnostic markers for monitoring natural pest-populations giving growers the opportunity to conduct knowledge-based risk assessment and switch to crop varieties with alternative smart resistance genes to terminate pest adaptation. The artificial coevolution procedure allows for identification and characterization of effectors, S-genes and the mutations that fuel their antagonistic coevolution. This will unlock the new research field of applied experimental evolution while smart resistance genes will initiate a transition from reactive to proactive crop pest management.
Netherlands