FROM THE SPECIFICITY OF PHYTOPARASITES, ANIMALS WITH A PIERCING-SUCKING MOUTHPARTS AND SALIVARY GLANDS, TO PLANT IMMUNITY

One of the characteristic features of parasitism is specificity, i.e., an association of certain types of parasites with certain types of hosts. Specificity of various phytoparasites, animals with a piercing-sucking mouthparts and salivary glands (tardigrades, nematodes, mites, insects), is expressed in their ability to infect certain organs and species of host plants. This specificity can range from narrow, when phytoparasites infect only one or several closely related plant species, to broad, when they can infect many different plant species. Ecto-phytoparasites can migrate from one plant to another, and from one plant species to another plant species. Ectophytoparasites with broad specificity can infect a wide range of plants. Some species of armored scale insects and mealybugs can infect many different plant species. Many endo-phytoparasites have narrow specificity and affect only certain plant species. The phytoparasite specificity is closely related to plant immunity, since both these aspects determine a success or a failure of a phytoparasitic infection. Different levels of the phytoparasite specificity depend on plant immunity. The analysis result of scientific papers devoted to theories of immunity and the theory of "infection" of certain plants by phytoparasites distinguished 12 mechanisms of plant resistance to obligate phytoparasites.