Plant hormones may offer a way to balance crop yield and disease resistance

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Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have uncovered how plant steroid hormones balance growth and immune responses in plants. This finding reveals mechanisms by which plants allocate resources between crop yield and disease resistance.

Growth or immune response? Higher organisms must constantly balance these two priorities. As in humans, hormones regulate this balance in plants. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have discovered a mechanism by which plant steroid hormones can inhibit immune responses and thereby make resources available for growth.