CONCEPT OF PLANT DISEASE

Plants are essential for maintenance of life. Plants not only sustain the man and

animals, they are also the source of food for multitudes of micro-organisms living in the

ecosystem. Thus, while man has been able to subjugate plants and animals for his own

use, the competing micro-organisms still defy his efforts and claim a major share of

resources which man would like to use for himself. It is in this context that the need for

fighting the competing micro-organisms and other agencies that lack loss of productivity

has been felt. The attack on plants by these micro-organisms changed the appearance and

productivity of the crop and this observed change was called a disease. Plant diseases

have been considered as stubborn barriers to the rapid progress of food production.

We call a plant healthy only so long as it continues to perform all its normal

physiological activities and give the expected yield according to its genetic potentiality.

Physiological activities of a healthy plant

1. Normal cell division, differentiation and development.

2. Uptake of water and nutrients from the soil.

3. Synthesis of food from sunlight by photosynthesis.

4. Translocation of water and food to the sites of necessity through xylem and

phloem.

5. Metabolism of synthesized material

6. Reproduction

A diseased plant fails to perform one or more of these functions. The effect of a disease

on functioning of an organ depends on which cells or tissues were first attacked by the

pathogen.

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For example, rotting of root tissues will affect the absorption of water and minerals from

soil and if vascular tissues have been affected, the translocation of water and

photosynthetates will be stopped or reduced. If leaf tissues are attacked by a pathogen, If leaf
tissues are attacked by a pathogen,

photosynthesis is affected and plant suffers from deficiency of carbohydrates essential for

supplying energy for other activities. Thus, disease can be defined as malfunctioning

process that is caused by continuous irritation by a pathogen (Dimond, 1959).

TERMS AND CONCEPTS USED IN PLANT PATHOLOGY

Disease; A plant disease is any abnormal condition that alters the appearance or function of a
plant. It is a physiological process that affects some or all plant functions. Disease may also
reduce yield and quality of harvested product.

In some cases, disease can be defined as a disturbance in the rhythmical equilibrium of a host in
respect of the structure, physiology or both. This may lead to death of a part of a plant or the
whole plant or it may reduce the economic value of its product. A diseased plant produces less
products or products of low quality. Therefore, diseases may have an individual and as well as
agricultural aspects.

Disease is a process or a change that occurs over time. It does not occur instantly like an injury.

Disease is a complex phenomenon and according to the modern concept, it is an interaction

among the host, pathogen and the environment

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This forms the disease triangle; The pathogen, the host and the Environment

All these factors must be favourable for a disease to set in.

Host; This is a plant invaded by the pathogen and serving as its food source. It must best be
susceptible to a certain kind of disease causing micro-organism

Other factors that are put into consideration in the host include:

a) Age; succulent and young plants are susceptible than the old ones
b) Type of host; Some disease attack beans and cannot attack maize

Pathogen; The pathogen must be virulent ( it must be able to cause the disease). It must be able
to cause a lot of spores so that it can be able to attack a lot of hosts (fecundity)
The ecology of the pathogen influences the attack of the host
Types pathogens include; Fungi, Bacteria, viruses, and nematodes.

Pathogens bring about these irritating processes through different but inter-related

pathways

1. by utilizing the host cell contents,

2. by causing death of cells or by interfering with their metabolic activities through

their enzymes, toxins and growth regulators,

3. by weakening of tissues due to continuous loss of nutrients, and

4. by interfering with translocation of food, minerals and water.

Environment; A favourable environment is critically important for disease development. Type of

environment e.g wet or dry season must be conducive for the pathogen to thrive well. It is noted
that even the most susceptible plants exposed to huge amounts of a pathogen will not develop
disease unless environmental conditions are favourable.

Parasite: Organisms which derive the materials they need for growth from living plants

(host or suscept) are called parasites.

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Pathogenicity is the ability of the pathogen to cause disease

Pathogenesis is the chain of events that lead to development of disease in the host (or)

sequence of progress in disease development from the initial contact between the

pathogen and its host to the completion of the syndrome

Sign: The pathogen or its parts or products seen on a host plant.

Symptom: The external or internal reactions or alterations of a plant as a result of a

disease.

Syndrome: The set of varying symptoms characterizing a disease are collectively called

a syndrome.

Biotroph: An organism that can live and multiply only on another living organism. They

always obtain their food from living tissues on which they complete their life cycle.

Eg: Rust, smut and powdery mildew fungi.

Hemibiotroph (Facultative Saprophyte): The parasites which attack living tissues in

the same way as biotrophs but will continue to grow and reproduce after the tissue is dead

called as facultative saprophytes.

Perthotrophs or perthophytes (Necrotroph): A parasite is a necrotroph when it kills

the host tissues in advance of penetration and then lives saprophytically

Eg: Sclerotium rolfsii.

Inoculum: It is the part of the pathogen which on contact with susceptible host plant

causes infection (or) the infective propagules which on coming in contact with the host

plant causes an infection are known as inoculum

Inoculum potential: The energy of growth of a parasite available for infection of a host

at the surface of the host organ to be infected (or) The resultant of the action of

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environment, the vigour of the pathogen to establish an infection, the susceptibility of the

host and the amount of inoculum present

Incubation period: The period of time (or time lapse) between penetration of a host by a

pathogen and the first appearance of symptoms on the host. It varies with pathogens,

hosts and environmental conditions.

Predisposition: It is the action of set of environments, prior to penetration and infection,

which makes the plant vulnerable to attack by the pathogen. It is related to the effect of

environments on the host, not on the pathogen, just before actual penetration occurs

Hypersensitivity: Excessive sensitivity of plant tissues to certain pathogens. Affected

cells are killed quickly, blocking the advance of obligate parasites.

Infection is the establishment of parasitic relationship between two organisms, following

entry or penetration (or) the establishment of a parasite within a host plant.

Systemic infection: The growth of pathogen from the point of entry to varying extents

without showing adverse effect on tissues through which it passes.

Epidemic or Epiphytotic disease: A disease usually occurs widely but periodically in a

destructive form is referred as epidemic or Epiphytotic disease.

Eg: Late blight of potato – Irish famine (1845)

Endemic: Constantly present in a moderate to severe form and is confined to a particular

country or district.

Eg: Club root of cabbage in Nilgiris

Black wart of potato – Synchytrium endobioticum

Onion smut – Urocystis cepulae

Sporadic disease: Occur at very irregular intervals and locations and in relatively fewer

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instances. Ex: Udbatta disease of rice, Angular leaf spot of cucumber –

CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES (CATEGORIES OF DISEASES)

Disease can be classified on the basis of

1. Groups of the hosts- Diseases of such plant groups eg cereals, citrus, vegetables,
legumes, fruits, and trees.
2. Diseases classified on the parts of the plant affected eg. Diseases of the roots, diseases of
the stems, flowers, leaves, fruits
3. The gross effects produced on the host (symptoms) eg root rots, fruit rots, leaf spots,
blights and wilts
4. The pathological effects of the host; This involves the reduction of tissues which is
termed as necrotic diseases, The reduction of the structure of the plant (Hypoplasia
diseases), The formation of galls, tumours, blisters on gall tissues (Hyperplasia)
5. Etiological basis of classification of diseases. This category can be recognized under
three sub-categories namely;
i. Parasitic diseases such as bacteria, Fungi and nematodes
ii. Non-parasitic diseases such as droughts and environment, chemical injuries,
deficiencies of mineral salts.
iii. Viral diseases
iv. Other categories such as soil-borne, air-borne and seed borne.

Flow chart showing classification of etiological diseases.

Diagram showing the disease cycle

Process of infection can be grouped into three stages, i.e., pre-penetration, penetration

and post-penetration. Stages in the development of infection or disease cycle

1. PRE-PENETRATION: Depending upon the plant pathogen activity, the plant pathogens are
classified in to 2 categories

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1. Active invaders

2.Passive invaders

Active Invaders

1. Pathogens which make an aggressive

effort to gain entry into intact host cells.

2. They do not require help of any external

agency to gain entry into host cells.

3. Eg. Phyto-pathogenic fungi

Phanerogamic parasites

Passive invaders

1.No aggressive effort

2. Require help of external agencies like

insect vectors or wounds caused by

agricultural implements.

3. Eg. Plant viruses

Phyto-pathogenic bacteria

N/B. Plant viruses are particulate in nature and they do not have any capacity to enter the host

cell so they do not make any aggressive effort for entry, but depend on different insect vectors for
their entry into host cell. Bacteria have no dormant structures; hence no prepenetration activity
except for multiplication in infection drops on the natural openings.

However, nematodes show some orientation towards root surface before actual

Penetration. In fungal pathogens, pre-penetration includes spore germination and growth of the
resulting germ tube on the surface of the host plant. Germination is essentially the change

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from low metabolic rate to a high metabolic rate and involves a change from near

dormancy to intense activity; for this an energy source is needed such as a carbohydrate

or fat reserve in the propagule. Fungal invasion is chiefly by germ tubes or structures

derived from them. In some fungi like Rhizoctonia solani and Armillariella mellea, the

hypha act in a concerted way to achieve the penetration. In Rhizoctonia solani, the

fungus on coming in contact with root surface, first forms infection cushions and

appressoria and from these multiple infections takes place by means of infection pegs. In

Armillariella mellea, the fungus hyphae form the rhizomorphs (aggregation of hyphae

into rope like strands) and only these can cause infection

pathogens, and cannot, therefore, be transmitted from diseased to healthy plants.

Table showing the comparison of disease cycles of the various disease - causing micro-
organisms.

INOCULUM

Sources of inoculum varies for each disease eg

a. Produced on residues left in the field

b. Present in the soil
c. Present in weeds or other crops in the area
d. Present in or on the seed
e. Present in soil sticking to equipment or tools
f. Carried by wind or water
g. Carried by insect vectors
h. Carried in by animals, birds and people

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The inoculum can spread in two ways namely;

i. Plant placed in the soil that contains the pathogen

j. Inoculum moves from its source to host plant

Penetration of the inoculum and infection

Infection occurs when the pathogen successfully enters a plant and grows, reproduces and
spreads within the plant. Pathogens enter the host through natural openings, wounds on plant
surfaces, or by penetrating directly into the plant.

Some diseases have only one cycle during the growing season eg the root rots

Some diseases develop secondary or repeating cycles during the growing season ( often foliar
diseases).
The number of cycles depends on the pathogen< susceptibility of the host and environmental
conditions.

The pathogen survives season to season through;

i. Soil
ii. Crop residue
iii. Weed or non crop host
iv. Seed or vegetative plant parts
v. Insects
vi. Mild climates

END