IMPORTANCE OF PLANT
PATHOLOGY
MAIN OBJECTIVE OF PATHOLOGY
1. To study the uses of plant disease - living, non-living, and
environmental.
2. To study the mechanism of disease development by pathogens.
3. To study the interactions between plant and pathogens.
4. To develop methods to control the disease to check the losses caused
by the diseases. Thereby increasing productivity of the crops.
PLANT PATHOLOGY
✴️It is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious
organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors) and also
called phytopathology.
⏭ Is the branch of Botany ️dealing with the study of pathogens or
microorganisms which cause different types of diseases in plants.
These organisms include:
▶️fungi
▶️bacteria
▶️viruses
▶️nematodes
*It deals with the cause, ethology (disease cycle), resulting losses to plants and
control of diseases.
Fungi
Vast majority are beneficial
Can cause plant, human, and livestock diseases
Most cannot be seen without a microscope
Lack chlorophyll
Composed of growing structure of delicate, threadlike filaments called hyphae
Reproduce by forming spores
Bacteria
Extremely small
organism requiring
microscope to be seen
Bacteria population
can increase in
number in short time
period.
Cells clump together
in masses called
colonies.
Obtain food from
dead or decaying
organic matter or
living tissue.
Spread plant to plant
by wind-driven rain.
Gain entrance
through natural plant
openings or injuries.
Viruses
Most familiar because they cause human and animal diseases such as influenza, polio, rabies,
smallpox, and warts.
Cause some destructive plant disease.
Measure only about one-millionth of an inch in size.
Are not complete living systems.
Survive only in living cells.
Transmitted by insects which are called vectors.
Nematodes
Round, slender, threadlike worms.
Some are parasites on animals, insects,
fungi, other nematodes, and plants.
Plant-parasitic nematodes have a stylet.
Most live in the soil and feed in or on plant
rootsstylet..
Plant pathology also involves the study of pathogen identification, disease etiology,
disease cycles, economic impact, plant disease epidemiology, plant disease
resistance, how plant diseases affect humans and animals, pathosystem genetics,
and management of plant diseases.
The normal physiological functions of plants are disturbed when they are affected by
pathogenic living organisms or by some environmental factors. Initially plants react
to the disease causing agents, particularly in the site of infection. Later, the reaction
becomes more widespread and histological changes take place. Such changes are
expressed as different types of symptoms of the disease which can be visualized
macroscopically. As a result of the disease, plant growth in reduced, deformed or
even the plant dies.
When a plant is suffering, we call it diseased, it is at ‘dis-ease’.
Disease is a condition that occurs in consequence of abnormal changes in the form, physiology,
integrity or behaviour of the plant.
According to American Phytopathological Society (Phytopathology 30:361-368, 1940), disease is a
deviation from normal functioning of physiological processes of sufficient duration or intensity to
cause disturbance or cessation of vital activities.
The British Mycological Society (Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 33:154-160, 1950) defined the disease as
a harmful deviation from the normal functioning of process. Recently, Encyclopedia Britannica
(2002) forwarded a simplified definition of plant disease. A plant is diseased when it is
continuously disturbed by some causal agent that results in abnormal physiological process that
disrupts the plants normal structure, growth, function or other activities. This interference with
one or more plant’s essential physiological or biochemical systems elicites characteristic
pathological conditions or symptoms.
*Loss of crops from plant diseases may result in hunger.
Diseases—a normal part of nature:
Plant diseases are a normal part of nature and one of many ecological factors that
help keep the hundreds of thousands of living plants and animals in balance with one
another
Plant cells contain special signaling pathways that enhance their defenses against
insects, animals, and pathogens.
One such example involves a plant hormone called jasmonate (jasmonic acid).
In the absence of harmful stimuli, jasmonate binds to special proteins, called JAZ
proteins, to regulate plant growth, Pollen production, and other.
It also increase the defense mechanism of plants.
Visible effects of disease on plants are called symptoms. Any detectable changes in
color, shape, and/or functions of the plant in response to a pathogen or disease-
causing agent is a symptom.
Signs of plant disease are physical evidence of the pathogen, for example, fungal
fruiting bodies, bacterial ooze, or nematode cysts. Signs also can help with plant
disease identification.
CAUSES OF PLANT DISEASES
Plant diseases are caused by pathogens. Hence a pathogen is always associated
with a disease. In other way, disease is a symptom caused by the invasion of a
pathogen that is able to survive, perpetuate and spread. Further, the word
“pathogen” can be broadly defined as any agent or factor that incites 'pathos or
disease in an organism or host. In strict sense, the causes of plant diseases are
grouped under following categories:
1. Animate or biotic causes: Pathogens of living nature are categorized into the
following groups.
(i) Fungi
(ii) Bacteria
(iii) Phytoplasma
(iv)Rickettsia-like orgorganism
(v) Algae
(vi) Phanerogams
(vii)Protozoa
(viii)Nematodes
2. Mesobiotic causes :
These disease incitants are neither living or non-living, e.g.
(i) Viruses
(ii) Viroides
3. Inanimate or abiotic causes:
In true sense these factors cause damages (any reduction in the quality or quantity of yield or loss
of revenue) to the plants rather than causing disease. The causes are:
(iii)Deficiencies or excess of nutrients(e.g.‘Khaira’ disease of rice due to Zn deficiency)
(iv)Light
(v) Moisture
(vi)Temperature
(vii)Air pollutants (e.g. black tip of mango)
(viii)Lack of oxygen (e.g. hollow and black heart of potato)
(ix)Toxicity of pesticides
(x) Improper cultural practices
(xi)Abnormality in soil conditions (acidity, alkalinity)
Disease development and transmission
Pathogenesis and saprogenesis
Pathogenesis is the stage of disease in which the pathogen is in intimate
association with living host tissue.
Three fairly distinct stages are involved:
Inoculation: transfer of the pathogen to the infection court, or area in which
invasion of the plant occurs (the infection court may be the unbroken plant
surface, a variety of wounds, or natural openings.
Incubation: the period of time between the arrival of the pathogen in the
infection court and the appearance of symptoms
Infection: the appearance of disease symptoms accompanied by the
establishment and spread of the pathogen.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING DISEASE DEVELOPMENT
Temperature:
Each pathogen has an optimum temperature for growth. In addition, different growth
stages of the fungus, such as the production of spores, their germination, and the growth of the
mycelium, may have slightly different optimum temperatures.
Relative humidity :
Relative humidity is very critical in fungal spore germination and the development of
storage rots.
High humidity favours development of the great majority of leaf and fruit diseases caused
by fungi and bacteria. Moisture is generally needed for fungal spore germination, the
multiplication and penetration of bacteria, and the initiation of infection.
Soil moisture:
High or low soil moisture may be a limiting factor in the development of certain root rot
diseases.
High soil-moisture levels favour development of destructive water mold fungi, such as
species of Aphanomyces, Pythium, and Phytophthora.
Soil pH
Soil pH, a measure of acidity or alkalinity, markedly influences a few diseases, such as
common scab of potato and club root of crucifers (Plasmodiophora brassicae).
Soil type
Certain pathogens are favoured by loam soils and others by clay soils.
Phymatotrichum root rot attacks cotton and some 2,000 other plants
Phymatotrichum fungus is serious only in black alkaline soils—pH 7.3 or above—that are low in
organic matter.
Soil fertility:
Greenhouse and field experiments have shown that raising or lowering the levels of
certain nutrient elements required by plants frequently influences the development of some
infectious diseases.
ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENT
A favorable environment is critically important for disease development – even the
most susceptible plants exposed to huge amounts of a pathogen will not develop
disease unless environmental conditions are favorable.
SECONDARY CYCLES
Some diseases have only one
cycle during the growing season
(often root rots)
Some diseases develop
secondary or repeating cycles
during the growing season (often
foliar diseases)
Number of cycles
depends on the
pathogen, susceptibility
of the host, and
environmental conditions
PATHOGEN SURVIVAL
Pathogens survive season to season in:
Soil
Crop residue
Weed or noncrop hosts
Seed or vegetative plant parts
Insects
Mild climates
MANAGEMENT
Quarantine
• A diseased patch of vegetation or individual plants can be isolated from other, healthy growth.
Specimens may be destroyed or relocated into a greenhouse for treatment or study. Another
option is to avoid the introduction of harmful nonnative organisms by controlling all human
traffic and activity, although legislation and enforcement are crucial in order to ensure lasting
effectiveness.
Cultural
• Farming in some societies is kept on a small scale, tended by peoples whose culture includes
farming traditions going back to ancient times. (An example of such traditions would be
lifelong training in techniques of plot terracing, weather anticipation and response,
fertilization, grafting, seed care, and dedicated gardening.) Plants that are intently monitored
often benefit from not only active external protection but also a greater overall vigor. While
primitive in the sense of being the most labor-intensive solution by far, where practical or
necessary it is more than adequate.
Plant resistance
• Sophisticated agricultural developments now allow growers to choose from among
systematically cross-bred species to ensure the greatest hardiness in their crops, as
suited for a particular region's pathological profile. Breeding practices have been
perfected over centuries, but with the advent of genetic manipulation even finer
control of a crop's immunity traits is possible. The engineering of food plants may be
less rewarding, however, as higher output is frequently offset by popular suspicion
and negative opinion about this "tampering" with nature.
Chemical
• Many natural and synthetic compounds can be employed to combat the above
threats. This method works by directly eliminating disease-causing organisms or
curbing their spread; however, it has been shown to have too broad an effect,
typically, to be good for the local ecosystem. From an economic standpoint, all but
the simplest natural additives may disqualify a product from "organic" status,
potentially reducing the value of the yield.
Biological
• Crop rotation may be an effective means to prevent a parasitic population from
becoming well-established, as an organism affecting leaves would be starved when
the leafy crop is replaced by a tuberous type, etc. Other means to undermine
parasites without attacking them directly may exist.
Integrated
• The use of two or more of these methods in combination offers a higher chance of
effectiveness.
Plant pathology has developed but scientific study began in the Early Modern period
with the invention of the microscope, and developed in the 19th century.
• Plants, like animals and humans, can also become diseased. In fact, there is a much
wider number of plant diseases than there are human or animal diseases simply
because there are more plant species involved in agriculture, horticulture and
forestry than in medical or veterinary medicine.
• Plant pathologists are responsible for studying plant diseases, and their studies
include various aspects of plant diseases, such as the organisms and environmental
conditions that cause disease in plants, the mechanisms by which these factors
cause disease, the interactions between these causal agents and the plant, and
methods for managing or controlling plant diseases.
• The science of plant pathology is closely allied with other sciences such as botany,
mycology, microbiology, genetics, chemistry, horticulture, agronomy, and soil
science. Plant pathologists integrate and use information from many of these
sciences to develop insights into disease development and disease control.
Why is Plant Pathology Important?
There are few if any crops grown elsewhere that could be
produced profitably without the efforts of plant pathologists.
Farmers rely on plant pathologists for advice on disease-
management strategies so they can produce a reliable, high
quality crop.