Introduction

Common causes of yield reduction

 Plant pathogens

 Unfavorable weather

 Weeds

 Arthropod pests
PLANT PATHOLOGY ( a review)
 Deals with the nature, causes and control of plant
diseases.

a. characteristics of diseases,
b. their causes
c. plant pathogen interactions
d. factors affecting disease development in individual
plants and in populations and
e. various means of controlling diseases
 An integrative science and profession

 uses and combines the basic knowledge of

botany, mycology, bacteriology, virology,
nematology, plant anatomy, plant physiology,
genetics, molecular biology and genetic
engineering, biochemistry, horticulture,
agronomy, tissue culture, soil science, forestry,
chemistry, physics, meteorology and etc.
 Profits from advances in any one of these and many
advances in other sciences have been made in
attempts to solve plant pathological problems

 Increase our knowledge about plant diseases.

 Develops methods, equipment, and materials through

which plant diseases can be avoided or controlled.
Effects of uncontrolled plant
diseases
 Less food
 Higher food prices
 Poor quality food
 Diseased plant produce maybe poisonous and unfit for
consumption
 May wipe out entire plant species
 Affect the beauty and landscape of our environment
Controlling plant disease results in:

 More food of better quality

 More aesthetically pleasing environment

 More costs for materials, equipment and labor used to

control plant diseases.
Aims of modern research in plant
pathology
 Find other environmentally friendly means of controlling
plant diseases such as
1. Conventional breeding and genetic engineering of
disease-resistant plants
2. Application of disease-suppressing cultural practices
3. RNA and gene-silencing techniques
4. Plant defense promoting, nontoxic substances, and
5. Use of biological agents antagonistic to the
microorganisms that cause plant disease
Challenges of plant pathology
 Reduce food losses while improving food quality

 Safeguard our environment

 Control plant diseases effectively and safely to feed the

hungry billions of our increasingly overpopulated world
Art of plant pathology

 Deals with the application of the knowledge gained from

studying the science such as:

a. Diagnosis or recognizing particular diseases by their

symptoms and signs

b. Disease assessment and forecasting

c. Recommendation of appropriate control measures and

d. Field application of suitable control measures

Disease as defined by:
 Physiological malfunctioning caused by animate
objects (Whetzel, 1929)
 Any deviation from normal growth or structure of
plants that is sufficiently pronounced and permanent
to produce visible symptoms or to impair quality or
economic value (Stakman and Harrar, 1957)
 Malfunctioning process caused by continuous
irritation (Horsefall and Dimond, 1959)

 Dynamic interaction between an organism and its

environment which results in abnormal physiological
and often morphological or neurological changes in
the organism (Merrill, 1980)
 Any disturbance brought about by a pathogen or an
environmental factor which interferes with
manufacture, translocation or utilization of food,
mineral nutrients and water in such a way that the
affected plant changes in appearance and yields less
than a normal healthy plant of the same variety
(Agrios, 1978).

 Any malfunctioning of host cells and tissues that

results from continuous irritation by a pathogen and
leads to the development of symptoms (Agrios, 1998).
 Harmful alteration of the normal physiological and
biochemical development of a plant (NAS, 1968)
Salient points:
1. Presence of physiological disorders that are
generally detrimental
2. Morphological abnormalities result from the
physiological malfunctioning
How pathogens may cause diseases
in plants?
 Consume contents of host cells upon contact thereby
weakening the host by continually absorbing food
from the host cells for their own use
 Kill or disturb the metabolism of host cells through
toxins, enzymes or growth regulating substances they
secrete.
 Block the transport of food, mineral nutrients and
water through the conductive tissues.
.
1. Infectious diseases – biotic agents
a. Fungal disease
b. Viral disease
c. Bacterial diseases ,etc.
2. Non-infectious diseases- abiotic agents
a. Extremely high or excessively low temperatures
b. Unfavorable oxygen relations
c. Unfavorable moisture conditions
d. Nutrient deficiencies
e. Mineral toxicities
f. Air pollution
g. Toxicity of pesticides
 preferred method because of the etiological or causal
basis
 Knowledge of the causal agent of a particular disease
gives an idea of how the disease develops and spreads
and of the control measures that are most likely to be
effective against the malady.
History of Plant Pathology
Pre-Scientific Period
 Diseases of plants have caused devastation since time
immemorial
 Fossils of primitive gymnosperms contained fruiting
bodies of fungi not unlike those that now parasitize
old coniferous trees.
 Plant diseases had been present on earth long before
man appeared on this planet
 Diseases took a tremendous toll off his crop when
man started to cultivate large areas to a single species
or variety.
 Bible and great philosophers (Aristotle, Homer and
Theophrastus) recorded a number of diseases (Blights,
mildew, rusts and blasts.)
 Greeks and Hebrews (500 B.C.-280B.C.) believed
that diseases to their crops
A. were brought down on them as punishment for their
sins by a displeased wrathful god.
B. are due to bad weather and unfavorable conditions.
 Theophrastus (370-286 B. C.)- great Greek
philosopher (Father of Botany) recorded several
diseases of grains, trees and vegetables in his Historia
Plantarum.
 Romans (320 B. C.-475A.D.) held an annual festival
(Robigalia) to placate their rust gods, Robigus and
Robigo who they believed were responsible for
ravages caused by various rust diseases on their crops.
 Pliny, the elder (a Roman philosopher) wrote about
blights and rusts in his Historia Naturalis.
Recommended that early sowing of grains allowed
wheat and barley to escape rust infection.
 875 A. D. and many years thereafter, ergot epidemics
in humans swept through various parts of Europe.
Ergot of rye is caused by Claviceps purpurea wherein
the sclerotium of the fungal pathogen replaces the
cereal grain.
Beginnings and Advances in
Scientific Studies
 17th century to mid-19th century
 early attempts at classifying plant diseases were made
by Tournefort, Zallinger, Fabricius and Unger.
 Franz Unger –autogenetic theory of disease-states that
when plants are in declining phase, the cellular
contents call forth new forms of life by a vital force.
This theory considers the pathogen an outgrowth of
the infected host plant without an independent body or
life of its own or that the pathogen is the result of the
disease, not the cause.
 The concept of spontaneous generation continued to
prevail because microorganisms which are the cause
of most diseases were not yet made visible.
 Eventually, Hans and Zaccharias Jansen (1590)-
invented the microscope
 Robert Hooke (1665) first to observe the plant cells in
cork pith and illustrated the details of a plant
pathogenic microscopic fungus in his Micrographia.
 Leeuwenhoek (1683) found bacteria, protozoa and
other microorganisms in water and other substrates.
“Germ theory of disease”, the foundation of the science
of plant pathology was enhanced by the works of
various people
 Pier Antonio Micheli (1729) described several genera
of fungi and made complete illustrations of their
fruiting bodies and spores in his Nova Plantarum
Genera.
first to observe germination of spores, mycelial
development and formation of spores characteristics
of the species.
 Tillet (1755) studied the bunt disease of wheat which
he said is contagious and the spore dust are the
carriers of the poisonous entity.
 Targioni-Tozzetti (1766) and Fontana (1767) studied
cereal rusts and concluded that rust fungi are
associated with it.
 Prevost (1807) conclusively demonstrate that bunt
disease of wheat is caused by a fungus; studied the
formation of spores and their germination; showed
that wheat seeds soaked in a copper bucket resulted in
smut free plants and copper sulfate prevented spore
germination.
 1845-1846 devastating epidemics of late blight of
potato in Ireland caused widespread famine.
 Heinrich Anton de Bary (1853) working with smut
and rust fungi established conclusively that fungi are
causes and not the results of plant diseases; marked
the end of autogenetic theory and the acceptance of
germ theory of disease.
made great contributions with his studies of downy
mildews and late blight.
discovered the occurrence of alternate hosts in rusts and
physiology of the Sclerotinia rust diseases of carrots
and vegetables.
Considered as father of plant pathology.
Showed that the fungus Phytophthora infestans is the cause
of potato leaf blight
Worked out the life cycle of Puccinia graminis tritici
regarding the presence of alternate host- barberry bush for
the germination and development of basidiospores, and
the wheat for the aeciospores.
 Julius Kuhn (1858) wrote the first textbook on plant
pathology “The Diseases of Cultivated plants, their
Causes and their Prevention”
 1850-1900 called the etiological period during which the
theory that plant diseases were caused by pathogenic
organisms was developed
 Brefeld, Koch and Petri studied pure culture
techniques for the growth of microorganisms
 Thomas J. Burrill (1878-1883) of the United States
and J. H. Wakker (1883-1889) proved that bacteria
can incite diseases in plants
Burrill - fireblight of apple and pear
Wakker -yellow disease of hyacinth
 Ivanowski (1892) and Beijerinck (1898) discovered
that some plant diseases are caused by very small
entities that could pass through bacteria-proof filters.
This started the field of virology.
 Stanley (1935) crystallized a virus for the first time
(TMV), an autocatalytic protein that is capable of
multiplying in the host cells.
 Bawden and is co-workers (1936) showed that
crystalline virus preparation consisted of protein and
nucleic acid
 Kausche and co-workers (1939)- first to see the virus
particles under an electron microscope
 Gierer and Schramm (1956) established that the
nucleic acid is the infective component of the virus
particle
 Needham (1743) observed nematodes inside wheat
galls (kernels)
 Berkeley noted root knot nematodes in galls formed in
roots of cucumbers
 Cobb (1913-1932) conducted extensive studies on the
morphology and taxonomy of plant parasitic
nematodes
 La Font (1909) observed flagellate protozoa
parasitizing latex bearing cells of laticiferous plants
without causing apparent damage to the plant
 Stahel (1931) found protozoa causing abnormal
phloem formation and wilting of coffee trees
 Flagellates was also found out to cause “hart rot
disease”, a phloem disorder of coconut trees.
 Doi and co-workers (1967) reported Mycoplasma-like
organisms (now called Phytoplasmas) to infect aster
yellows in Japan
 Ishiie and co-workers (1965) observed that treating
infected plants with tetracycline caused temporary
disappearance of the symptoms and the mycoplasma-
like bodies
 Davis and co-workers (1972) observed spiroplasma, a
motile helical microorganism causing stunt disease of
corn
Phytoplasmas and Spiroplasmas (Class Mollicutes)
 Diener (1971) observed viroids (infectious RNA)as
plant pathogens of potato causing the spindle tuber
disease
 Pierre Marie Alexis Millardet (1882) discovered
Bordeaux mixture, a highly effective fungicide, which
formed the foundation for chemical control for plant
diseases
 Due to increasing concerns on animal and human
health, environmental pollution and pest/pathogen
resistance, search for alternative methods of
containing pest and diseases led to studies on
biological control using antagonistic microorganisms,
botanicals and compounds.
 1960- mycotoxins were studied. Aflatoxin produced
by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus in stored
products have poisoned turkey poults.
 Vanderplank (1963) published the book “Plant
Diseases: Epidemics and control” which established
epidemiology (study of disease increase in plant
populations) an impt field of specialization of plant
pathology.
This led to modeling of plant diseases and computer
simulation to predict the course of an epidemic. This
resulted in the development of disease forecasting
systems which are essential in disease management
programs
 The present era in genetic engineering (transformation
of an organism by the incorporation of foreign genes
to its genetic make up) offers a number of
opportunities in phytopathology
A. Coat protein genes from viruses have been
introduced in plant to make them somewhat resistant
to viral pathogen
B. Chitinase gene from a microorganism has been
incorporated into plants to break down the chitin in
the cell walls of fungal pathogens that may attack
the plant.
 Recent advances in molecular plant pathology have led
to the development of highly sensitive diagnostic
methods and tools for the detection and identification
of plant pathogens. Presence of minute levels of a
specific pathogen can be detected even in the presence of
numerous contaminating microorganisms.
 Information technology revolution via the computer had
also an impact on plant pathology (generation of data
bases etc.)
Availability of various computer programs on
diagnosis, pathogen identification, disease forecasting,
control methods and other aspects
Development of Plant Pathology in
the Philippines
 1885- coffee rust noted in Batangas and in five years
later, it destroyed all the coffee trees in the province
 Coconut bud rot – first observed in Laguna, spread in
Quezon province causing tremendous damage
 1908- Dr Copeland published the results wherein the
disease was held in check.
 1911- Leaf blight of corn was reported by C. B. Robinson
 1912- Downy mildew was observed by C. Baker
 1914- Baker published “The Lower Fungi of the
Philippine Islands”
 First course in Plant pathology was Botany 4 (Diseases of
Plants) Agronomy dept., CA,UPLB (1910-1917)
 Otto Reinking- first dept. head. Botany 4 was changed to
Plant Path 1 (Gen. Plt. Pathology)
Published “Phil Economic Plant Diseases” (1918) that
describes the symptoms, causes and control measures of
various diseases
Started the foundation of an herbarium of plant diseases.,
now known as G.O. Ocfemia Pathological and
Mycological Herbarium
 G.O. Ocfemia joined Dept of Plant pathology in 1918 and
became dept head from 1933 to1955.
Made numerous studies notably on the nature and cause f
abaca bunchy top including the vector
Dean of Filipino Plant Pathologists
 Weston (1920-23)- downy mildew of corn
 Ocfemia (1920-1940)- abaca bunchy top and Fiji disease
of sugar cane
 1950-1960- studies on the etiology and control of leaf and
seedling diseases.
- staff development program of CA and improvement of
physical facilities
 1963- Phil. Phytopathological Society
 1965- The Phil. A Surveillance and Early Warming
SystemPhytopathology Journal
 1970- BPI established a Surveillance and Early Warming
System
 1978- Exconde and co-workers controlled corn downy
mildew by seed treatment
 A Plant pest and Disease clinic in the dept of plant
pathology, UPLB
 1980’s to present- tremendous concern over the hazards
posed the extensive use of chemicals to control pests and
diseases.
 1983-1984 Davide and co-workers discovered a fungus
(Paecilomyces lilacinus) antagonistic to plant parasitic
nematodes (Commercially known as Biocon)
 8000 articles on plant pathology were published in
technical journals, bulletins and etc.
 Over 1000 plant pathologists fight against plant diseases.
 Reduction or elimination of Fiji disease of sugarcane,
coconut bud rot, corn downy mildew and certain
nematode diseases succeeded.
Advances in molecular biology (latter part of 20th century)
 Have aided plant pathologists in diagnosis of plant
diseases.
 Scientists have used monoclonal antibodies for the
detection of viruses and other pathogens.
 Kits for rapid screening of tungro infection, aflatoxin
contamination, papaya ringspot and other diseases have
been developed
 Bacterium causing sugar cane ratoon stunt was detected in
expressed sap using PCR(Polymerase chain reaction
technique at UPLB
With genetic engineering and quantum advances in
information technology, there remains much have to be
done:
 Effective and economically feasible control measures for a
number of major diseases are still unknown.
 Many new diseases crop up every year each with a
potential of becoming important.
 Strains that are resistant to chemical control have sprung
up
 New virulent strains or races attack the commercial crop
varieties
Plant Pathology is therefore still a fertile field for study
and research in the country