AbstractPlant microbial pathogens bring about great damage to agricultural and forestry economy every year. Plantgenetic engineering is the complement and development of traditional breeding techniques in protecting plantsagainst microbial disease. In recent years, novel strategies have been emerging for breeding antibacterial orantifungi plants in plant genetic engineering. These examples are based on the clarification of microbial physiologic structure, pathogenetic mechanism and plant-microbe interactions. Integration of these stragetiesshould make further contributions to effective field resistance. Cloning of disease resistance genes, moleculardissection of signal transduction mechanism and identification of virulence genes will provide attractive newopportunities for enhancing crop protection.