Some of the major contributors to decreased plant health are the harmful interactions between plants and plant pests, including microorganisms, insects and weeds. While traditional methods have been relatively successful in controlling these pests, many methods have been unable to provide long lasting control, while others are recognized as potentially harmful to the environment. Molecular biology and biochemistry have opened the door for novel approaches to plant pest control. These strategies include: enhancing the plant's own defense mechanisms by increasing the expression of specific genes (Melchers et al. 1991), transforming plants with virus genes to provide virus resistance (Beachy et al. 1990; Anderson et al. 1992), using insect genes to protect a plant from insects (Hilder et al. 1987; Johnson et al. 1989), and incorporating herbicide resistance genes (De Block et al. 1987; Botterman et al. 1991). All of these strategies are being investigated by various members of our group. A major consequence of this research is that plant pests will be controllable in an environmentally benign way. While these approaches are diverse, the specific goal is the same in each case; to improve the ability of the plant to resist the ravages of pathogens and pests which rob the plant of its vigor and health.