Plants, like people, have defense mechanisms that protect them against infections from external pathogens. If in the case of humans, vaccines are an effective tool against diseases, in the case of plants it would not be different. The ‘Biofactory Plants’ group led by Professor María Ángeles Pedreño at the University of Murcia, works in collaboration with the company Alimer in the elaboration of compounds that help improve the resistance of broccoli to infections by some fungi.
According to the researcher Esther Novo, «work is being done to identify the substances produced by the plant when they infect it and by introducing it, through different irrigation techniques, into healthy crops to prepare them for a possible real attack». In other words, in the laboratory broccoli is treated with these substances so that the plant reacts as if it were being attacked, thus generating a series of compounds that act as defenses. In this way, if a fungal attack really did occur, the broccoli would be prepared to avoid it.
«Another advantage of these compounds is that they are natural and their use is very useful to avoid the use of chemical fertilizers or antifungals that can be harmful to the environment». The techniques developed, which could be extrapolated to other types of plants, are carried out in all phases of broccoli development, both on the seeds and in seedlings and as the crop grows. «The study, carried out within the framework of a CDTI project co-financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, is in a very initial phase, although it has already given rise to some interesting results», according to Novo.
