Understanding Biotic Stress and Hormone Signalling in Cassava (Manihot esculenta): Potential for Using Hyphenated Analytical Techniques

Biotic stresses often constitute major factors limiting global crop yields. A better understanding of plant responses to these stresses will facilitate efforts to improve stress tolerance and yields, especially in a climatically changing world. Numerous attempts have been made to confer tolerance/resistance to biotic stresses using both traditional and modern breeding methods. Mechanisms of biotic stress tolerance controlled by signalling networks and the analysis of genes controlling the yield and biotic stress tolerance are discussed. This review presents a report on the hormonal response of cassava to biotic stresses and the potential use of hyphenated analytical techniques to understand biotic stress hormonal responses. Hyphenated analytical techniques are reliable tools for understanding the response of cassava to biotic stresses, thereby accelerating the process of the development of biotic stress-tolerant/resistant genotypes for breeding purposes.