UDAA 3163 Plant Pathology

Topic 1: Introduction
 Topic Learning Outcomes

In this topic, you’ll learn:

➢History of Plant Pathology – How did it all started?

➢The importance of plant pathogens

➢The Germ theory

➢Fundamental principles of plant disease diagnosis – Koch’s

postulates

➢The disease triangle

 What is Plant Pathology?
• Plant pathology covers the following areas:
• The study of the organisms and the environmental factors that result
in plant diseases
• The mechanisms or factors behind the disease occurrence
• The preventive or control methods needed to reduce the damages
caused by plant pathogens.
• Uncontrolled plant diseases → less food, higher food prices or poor
food quality (sometimes poisonous to human), affect the aesthetic values
of a landscape.

Aspergillus parasiticus Fusarium graminearum

Aflatoxin contamination in corns Mycotoxins contamination in wheat
 Why Plant Pathology?

To reduce food loss due to To ensure food security –

diseases food is enough for everyone

To safeguard environment from

To improve food quality indiscriminate use of pesticides
 The concept of disease in plants

• A plant is considered healthy when it can carry out its normal

physiological functions (e.g. photosynthesis, nutrient translocation,
produce seeds or set fruits).
• When these functions are interfered by pathogens or harsh
environmental conditions, the metabolic activities of the plant cells are
disrupted which could lead to cell death → plant becomes diseased.
• When cell death becomes severe and widespread, affected plant parts
becomes visible → disease symptoms.
• Therefore, plant disease can be defined as:

A series of visible and invisible responses of plant cells and tissues

towards pathogenic organisms or environmental factors that cause
adverse changes in plant’s function which could lead to the death of
plant parts or the entire plant.
 The concept of disease in plants
• Pathogenic microbes/pathogens are transmissible biotic (living) agents that
cause diseases in plants by interfering with plant cell metabolism.
• Environmental factors are abiotic (non-living) agents that include
temperature, mineral nutrients, wind, moisture and pollutants that could
affect plant growth depending on the levels that could be tolerated by plants.
• The disease triangle forms the basis of disease development in plants.

Environment
Pathogen
• Favourable conditions (e.g.
• Virulent
Amount of temperature moisture or wind) for
• Abundant
disease pathogen growth or dispersal.

All three components

Host MUST be present for
• Susceptible crop plant disease to occur.
• Improper agricultural practices
Basic functions Interference of
in plants plant functions
due to diseases
Plants can be infected by various groups of plant pathogens
 History of Plant Pathology
Ancient times
• Greek philosopher Democritus described the existence of plant blights
and its control method in 300 B.C. using olive grounds.
• Another philosopher Theophrastus (Father of Botany) wrote about plant
diseases in one his book – “Reasons of vegetable growth”.
• Theophrastus claimed that plant diseases were known as
curse/punishment from God.
• The Roman empire created a separate God, Robigus for farmers to offer
prayers and sacrifices – protect farmers from rust disease.
• Homer suggested to use sulfur for controlling plant diseases in 1000 B.C.
• Very little information of disease control methods are documented.
 History of Plant Pathology
Ancient times

• In 1200 A.D., a higher plant – Mistletoe was described as a parasite by

Albertus Magnus, that absorbs water and nutrients from the host plant.
• Mistletoe is known as the first pathogen back then.
• This parasite spread their sticky seeds through birds or expelled forcefully
– seeds stick to tree branches and germination occurs.
• For about 2000 years, little documentation about plant diseases were
conducted – most people believe that diseases are punishments from God.
• Repeated losses of food, hunger and famines occurred without proper
disease management strategies.
 History of Plant Pathology
Renaissance Period
• In the mid-1600s, French farmers urged the local government to destroy the
barberry bushes – initially thought as the cause of wheat stem rust disease.
• These bushes serve a place for the fungus Puccinia graminis to overwinter
and sporulate which could infect nearby wheat crops.
• In 1670, the French physician Thoullier discovered the Ergot’s disease
(Claviceps sp.) on cereals which caused death on human and animals upon
consumption of infected crops.
• Also known as St. Anthony’s Fire and was related to black magic – Witch
trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.
 History of Plant Pathology
Renaissance Period
• In 1670, Robert Hooke invented the compound
microscope – defined units in cork slices as ‘cells’.
• Then, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek improved the
microscope and described the anatomy of plants and
Hooke Van Leeuwenhoek microorganisms.

• In 1735, Carl von Linne established the diagnosis and

nomenclature of plant species but his work was rigid.
• In 1859, Charles Darwin described that all species of
organisms adapt to environmental changes and evolve
von Linne Darwin over the course of time.

The invention of microscope has led to the advancement of plant pathology!

 History of Plant Pathology – Fungi

• Spores of wheat rust (Puccinia graminis) were observed with

the compound microscope in 1667.
• In 1729, Micheli first described that fungus reproduced
through spores – nobody believed him. Many still believed
that fungus arose spontaneously.
• In 1775, Tillet believed that wheat disease is due to
poisonous substance produced by wheat smut (Ustilago
tritici) but Prevost discovered that this disease is caused by
fungus in 1807. Still, no one believed their findings.
• Ignorance led to the Irish potato famine in 1840s – the age
where interest in disease causes and control arose.
• Finally in 1861, deBary proved that the fungus Phytopthora
infestans was the cause of the late blight of potato and the
disease spread was due to spores.
 History of Plant Pathology – Fungi
• Between the year 1860-1863, Loius Pasteur proposed that microorganisms arise
from pre-existing microorganisms which coincides with deBary’s findings.
• Pasteur’s idea that most infectious diseases were due to germs led to the
establishment of the ‘Germ theory’ which ended the theory of spontaneous
generation.
• The subsequent development of artificial nutrient media for culturing microbes by
Robert Petri and the establishment of Koch’s postulates by Robert Koch has
made significant contributions to plant pathology.
• In 1870, the German Kühn wrote the first book on plant pathology – ‘Diseases of
Cultivated Crops, Their Causes and Their Control’ – described plant diseases
caused by insects, fungi and parasitic plants and their methods of control.
 Pasteur’s Experiment in
proving the Germ Theory

Microbes do not occur

spontaneously!
Koch’s Postulates
History of Plant Pathology – Nematodes

• First reported in wheat kernels by Needham

in 1743 but did not indicate the cause of
disease.
• In 1855, the second root nematode was
observed in cucumber root galls.
• In the next 4 years, the bulb and stem
nematode as well as the sugarbeet cyst
nematode were discovered.
• More plant parasitic nematodes were further
described in the early 20th century by Nathan
Augustus Cobb – the Father of Nematology
in the US.
History of Plant Pathology – Protozoan Myxomycetes
• In 1878, Woronin was the first Russian to identify the clubroot disease of
cabbage caused by a protozoan myxomycetes.
• Known as Plasmodiophora brassica – fungus-like, single-celled, lack cell
wall, has an amoeba-like body (plasmodium / zoospores).
• Caused root swelling – formation of club-like galls which reduces plant
water and nutrient uptake causing death.
• Initially classified as lower fungi but are now considered members of the
protozoan family.
History of Plant Pathology – Bacteria

• In 1878, Burrill in Illinois showed that Erwinia

amylovora caused fire blight disease in pear and
apple trees.
• In the early 1890s, Erwin Smith first reported the
crown gall disease caused by Agrobacterium
tumefaciens – similar to cancerous tumours in
humans caused by bacteria.
• This bacteria infects plants by transferring part of its
DNA to the plant and is expressed in the host plant.
• Similar to fungus, bacteria were not accepted as the
causal agent of disease.
 History of Plant Pathology – Viruses

• In 1886 and 1898, Mayer and Ivanowski injected the juice from
tobacco leaves showing greenish yellow mosaic patterns into
Mayer Ivanowski healthy plants – show similar symptoms.
• Both concluded that it could be due to bacterium or its toxin.
• In 1898, Beijerinck discovered that the mosaic disease was
caused by a ‘contagious living fluid’ that he called it as ‘virus’.
• In 1935, Stanley discovered that the virus is a protein that
Beijerinck Stanley could multiply within living cells – won a Nobel Prize.
• In 1936, Bawden and colleagues described that virus
consisted of both protein and RNA.
• Kaushe and colleagues observed the first structure of the
Bawden mosaic virus under an electron microscope in 1939.
• In 1956, Gierrer and Schramm described that protein is
removable from the virus and the RNA enables it to cause
infection to reproduce a complete virus.
History of Plant Pathology – Protozoa

• A flagellate protozoa from the

Trypanosomatid family was detected in the
latex of a Euphorbia plant in 1909 without
causing any disease symptoms.
• It was later named as Phytomonas sp.
• In 1931, Stahel discovered these flagellates
were causing phloem necrosis disease in
Liberica coffee trees – abnormal phloem
formation and leaf wilting.
• In 1976, similar disease was reported in
coconut and oil palm plantations in South
America and Africa.
 History of Plant Pathology – Phytoplasmas
• Typical viral infected symptoms in plants – yellowing, reddening of plant or
shoots or witches’ broom structures, were thought to be caused by virus.
• In 1967, the Japanese observed that mollicutes – wall-less mycoplasma-
like organisms (MLOs) were found in plants’ phloem exhibiting these
symptoms.
• Phytoplasmas – circular/oval, unculturable.
• Spiroplasmas – helical, culturable.
 History of Plant Pathology – Viroids

• In 1971, the potato spindle tuber disease was caused by a

small, naked, single stranded, circular molecule of RNA
known as viroid.
• Viroids are the smallest infectious RNA molecules that are
found to infect plants – no infection cases of human and
animals are reported.
• However, even a smaller type of infections agent known as
prions have been found in animal and humans – ‘mad
cow’ disease.
• To date, no prions were discovered to infect plants.
 History of Plant Pathology
20th century
• Understanding the etiology (causes) of plant diseases has led to the
search and progress of disease control methods.
• One of the earliest methods → chemical control using fungicides or
bactericides
• The first chemical – Bordeaux mixture (copper sulfate and hydrated lime)
developed in 1885, was used for more than 100 years to control various
fungal plant infection.
• More chemical compounds were discovered / synthesized eventually
leading to resistance in bacterial (1954) and fungal plant pathogens (1963).
• Public concern about abusive use of chemicals on humans, animals,
biodiversity and the environment has increased the effort to develop
alternative control methods.
 History of Plant Pathology

Integrated
Biological Mechanisms of
pest/disease
control disease infection
management

Areas of Interest in the 20th Century of Plant Pathology

Pathogenicity
Genetic inheritance Plant disease
differences among
of crop resistance epidemiology
plant pathogens
 Modern Day Plant Pathology

Studies the resistance and

Rapid nanotechnological
susceptibility of host plants
diagnostic tools to detect plant
using molecular methods –
pathogens
molecular plant breeding.

The ‘omics’ approach to Biotechnological tools –

understand pathogens, hosts genome editing to produce
and the interaction resistant cultivars.

AI tools – disease diagnosis

and monitoring (i.e. machine
vision and learning).
 Unknown plant diseases in the modern day
• Some plant diseases remain unidentified till today – unknown etiology
(causes)

Peach Short Life Syndrome Citrus Blight Spear rot of oil palm

• Could be due to more than one pathogen.

• The activity of the pathogen could be affected by environmental factors
including soil, moisture and temperature.
After listening to long history of
plant pathology, do you think
this field of study is essential
to agriculture?

What impacts do plant

pathogens bring?
 Impacts of plant pathogens
• First impact: plant pathogens reduce the quality and quantity of crop
produce.
• Plants or crop produce are reduced in quantity as a result of disease.
• Similarly, the quality of produce during storage (e.g. fruits, vegetables,
grains or fibers) is reduced – postharvest losses.
• Sometimes, when crop quantity is not reduced, the low quality of harvest
due to postharvest diseases reduces the market value.
 Impacts of plant pathogens

• Second impact: plant pathogens limit the types of plants and industries in
a geographical area.
• Depending on the severity, plant diseases may limit growers’ choice of
crops.
• For e.g. The Fusarium wilt has wiped out all Gros-Michel bananas due to
monocropping practices.
• Plant pathogens may affect the agriculture industries and the level of
employment locally → local canning or food processing industries.
• At the same time, plant pathogens creates new industries → chemicals,
machines and technologies to control diseases.
 Importance of plant pathogens
• Third impact: Plant diseases may produce poisonous food for animals
and humans.
• Some fungal pathogens produce health hazardous mycotoxins in
infested food crops, animal feeds and dairy products.
• The Ergot disease of rye and wheat (Claviceps purpurea) produces
lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) that causes blood vessels constriction
and gangrene upon consumption of infected grains.
• Commonly found Aspergillus and Penicillium produce aflatoxins that
damages the liver and is carcinogenic.
• Fusarium graminearum produces both vomitoxin and zearalenone that
induces vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea and immunosuppression in
animals and humans.
• F. verticilliodes produces fumonisins that causes liquefaction of brain in
horses and leads to ‘crazy horse disease’.
 Impact of plant pathogens
• Fourth importance: Plant pathogens could incur financial
losses.
• Planting resistant cultivars may not be feasible → less
productive
• Additional expenses in chemical application and storage.
• Extra costs in providing refrigerated warehouses or
transportation facilities → reduce postharvest disease losses.
• Plant disease may reduce the postharvest quality of harvest →
cannot be stored → forced to sell within a short period of time
→ abundant supply → low prices → less profit.
• A combination of management methods, i.e. use of resistant
varieties, cultural, physical, chemical or biological control
practices could potentially sustain crop production in disease
outbreaks.
 Some historical icons of plant pathogens

The Great Irish Famine (1945 – 1946)

• Potato late blight caused by Phytophtora infestans
• 250,000 died of hunger
• 1.5 millions of people left Ireland and immigrated to the United States

Downy mildew of grapes (1800s)

• Caused by Plasmopara viticola
• French wine production was reduced by 80%.
 Some historical icons of plant pathogens

Bengal Famine (1943)

• Leaf spot disease of paddy caused by Cochliobolus miyabeanus
• Infects rice plants, killing large areas of affected leaves.
• Brown spot reduces the number of grains per panicle and the kernel weight.
• Estimated 2.1 to 3 millions of people died of hunger.

How has technological advance help to prevent the

same incidents from happening?
 What about insects?

Are they important in plant pathology?

What could be their roles?
 The connection between insects and pathogens

Disease transfer of visiting Inflicting wounds on plant

insects covered with bacterial organs during feeding or
ooze and fungal spores from oviposition → entry points for
infected plants. plant pathogens.
Insect’s role in
disseminating
plant pathogens
Insect feeding on plants making Insects as vectors that carry
them weak and vulnerable to diseases such as virus,
pathogenic attack. phytoplasmas, protozoa.
Fundamental principles of plant disease diagnosis
• Based on signs and symptoms.
• Signs: the pathogen or parts of its structure that can be visually
observed on the host plant. (mold, spores, cysts, or bacterial ooze)
• Symptoms: the physiological response of plants towards the disease
over time. (leaf wilting, leaf spots, or enlarged tissues)

Symptoms VS Signs
Fundamental principles of plant disease diagnosis
• The first step is to determine whether the disease is caused by biotic
(pathogen) or abiotic (environmental) factors.
• For some cases, the disease symptoms and signs are specific.
• Supported by experience and some available references, disease
diagnosis can be easily done.
• In some cases, detail observation is needed (spores or any microscopic
structures) and test disease symptoms via Koch’s postulates.
• Symptoms can be broadly categorized as morphological and
histological symptoms.
• Morphological symptoms are physical or external symptoms caused
by pathogens.
• These symptoms can be further divided into: Necrosis, Hypoplasia,
Hyperplasia and Hypertroph
How do we know if an organism is
the causal agent of the signs and
symptoms observed in plants?
 Principles of Koch’s postulates
• In 1887, Koch set 4 criteria that must be fulfilled before a microorganisms
isolated from animal, human or plant can be concluded as the causal agent.
• The postulates consists of these 4 criteria:
• Every diseased sample examined must contain the suspected causal
agent
• The causal agent must be isolated from diseased sample and grown
as pure culture.
• A healthy host must produce specific disease symptoms when it is
inoculated with pure culture of the causal agent.
• The same causal agent must be recovered from inoculated samples
and must have the same characteristics as the original causal agent.
• However, Koch’s postulate can be difficult to conduct if pathogens cannot be
cultured – viruses, phytoplasmas, protozoa and some fungi (rust, mildews).
• Modifications are required to fulfilled the postulates.
 Principles of Koch’s postulates

If the same symptoms occur in healthy plants after inoculation,

we can be confident that the isolated pathogen is the causal
agent of the plant disease.

This is called demonstrating ‘Koch’s Postulates’.

 Morphological symptoms - Necrosis
• Necrosis refers to the protoplast degeneration followed by the death of
the tissue/organ or the whole plant.

Leaf yellowing – uniform on non-uniform

yellowing on leaves due to breakdown of
chlorophyll (virus, bacteria, phytoplasmas, fungi)

Hydrosis – water-soaked, translucent tissues

where intracellular tissues contains liquid.
Precedes holonecrosis. (Bacteria)
 Morphological symptoms - Necrosis

Wilting – loss of tugor causing drooping of

leaves, stems and flowers. Stem shows
discolouration. (bacteria, fungi)

Damping off – collapse and Leaf spots – a well-

death of seedlings due to defined grey, tan or brown
extensive stem necrosis (fungi) necrotic lesion on leaf
 Morphological symptoms - Necrosis

Blotch – irregular necrotic

Shot hole – necrotic
tissue areas on leaves,
tissues falls off and form
larger than leaf spots
holes on leaves

Streaks/stripes – streaks
of necrotic tissues on Dieback – progressive death of
leaves (virus, bacteria) shoots, branches and roots
generally starting from the shoot tip.
 Morphological symptoms - Necrosis

Canker – localized dead tissues on the Gummosis – exudation of

stem, branch, twigs or fruits (woody gum or sap from wounded or
trees), shrunken and discoloured diseased parts
(bacteria, fungi)

Blight – Rapid and extensive death of

Guttation – exudation of water plant tissues (leaves, stems, flowers)
from plants from the leaf margins which results in plant death.
 Morphological symptoms - Necrosis

Rot –Softening, decay and

Anthracnose – formation of discolouration of tissues (fungi
dark, sunken leaf, stem, or or bacteria)
fruit lesions (fungi)

Ooze – Milky or slimy exudations Mummification – Rotted organs dry

from diseased/soft rotted tissues out resulting in shriveling and
hardening similar to mummies
Morphological symptoms – Hyperplasia and hypertrophy

• Hyperplasia – Plant tissue enlargement due to excessive division /

large increase of plant cells.
• Hypertrophy – Plant overgrowth due to abnormal enlargement of
individual cells.
• Both hyperplasia and hypertrophy result in excessive growth /
enlargement of plant tissue organs (fruits, leaves, stems, roots).

Gall – Abnormal growth of tissues

due to localized cell proliferation or Enation – Outgrowths on the plant
increase in cell size (virus, bacteria, organs (leaf) due to viral infection
fungi, nematodes)
Morphological symptoms – Hyperplasia and hypertrophy

Witches’ broom – Abnormal profuse

outgrowth of lateral buds causing a
broom like appearance.
 Morphological symptoms – Hypoplasia

• Hypoplasia – underdevelopment of tissues or organs due to reduced cell

proliferation

Dwarfism/Stunting/Atrophy
– Reduced plant height and Rosette – Internodes do not enlarge
growth (virus) and leaves are clustered on the
stem like rosettes. (virus)
 Other symptoms

Downy mildew – white fungal Powdery mildew – powdery

masses on underside of leaves fungal masses on leaves
and leaf spots on the upper without leaf spots
surface of leaves

Scab – rough, crust-like Leaf curl – abnormal curling of

diseased tissue on plant leaves
organ surfaces (fruits)
 Chlorosis – The loss of
Vein clearing – chlorotic veins
chlorophyll from plants due
on leaves (virus)
to microbial infection (virus)

Mosaic – Dark and light green Ringspot – formation of

patterns on leaf followed by circular/ring-shaped
chlorosis (virus) chlorosis (virus)
 Other symptoms

Mold – masses of fungal mycelia

Epinasty – rigid downward bending of
(fuzzy) on decayed / rotted fruits
upper leaf surface/leaf blades in
and stems
response to ethylene production by fungi

Ergot – Sclerotia structures

Smut – Masses of dark,
that replace the grains in
powdery and odorous (at times)
diseased influorescence
spores on influorescences
 Other symptoms

Rust – rusty appearance (spores)

commonly found on leaves White Rust – White spots (spores)
commonly found on leaves, less
powdery than powdery mildew

Stem pitting – depression / Sooty mold – dark, spongy fungal

crevasses formed in the virus- mats growing of leaf and fruit surfaces
infected stems
 Other symptoms

Dodder infection – A parasitic

thread-like plant that lacks
chlorophyll, feeds on other plants.

Scorch – ‘Burning’ of leaf margins

(bacteria or high temperature)