The molecular interplay between climate change and plant disease in tomato

Abstract

In the next decades, climate change will lead to more frequent extreme weather while also increasing the burden of plant diseases. Together with the increase in the global population, climate change is expected to further increase the already existing food insecurity. In the field, extreme weather like drought and heat are likely to occur simultaneously with plant diseases. The combination of these two types of stresses is not simply the sum of their effects, both on the morpho-physiological and the molecular level, and can be perceived as a worse as well as a reduced stress. As the outcome of combined stresses can vary per plant species, insights into their molecular mechanisms cannot simply be transferred between species. Here, the separate and combined effects of pathogens, and drought or heat on the tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum), one of the most important vegetable crops, are reviewed.