ABSTRACT
Long before the discovery of synthetic pesticides, crop protection was based on three pillars: good agricultural practice, selection of appropriate crop varieties, and respect for natural balance. Today we recognise that one of the main obstacles to the development of alternative strategies is our lack of understanding of the molecular mechanisms which determine the interactions between a plant and its pests. Through the new discipline of genomics, a comprehensive approach to the genetic study of pest-plant interactions has now been developed, thanks to the characterisation of their genomes. Although we are still far from our final goal, we can already identify resistance genes and accelerate the process of crop varietal selection using molecular markers. At the same time, the prospect of stimulating the plant's natural defences by biological or biochemical means opens new perspectives.
