Smut Disease

Causative Agent:
Pathogenic Basidiomycetes fungi of the order Ustilaginales.

Characteristics:
Characterized by soot-like, black powdery masses of spores (sori).
Affects seeds, leaves, stems, flowers, and bulbs of the host plant.
Economically impacts crops like maize, barley, wheat, oats, sugarcane, and
forage grasses.

Corn Smut Disease (Ustilago maydis):

Forms galls on all above-ground parts of corn species.
Immature galls are considered a delicacy in Mexico (huitlacoche).

Symptoms: Tumors filled with black teliospores, plant distortion.

Optimal Conditions: Warm weather, 26-33°C.

Control: Remove galls, clear corn litter, grow resistant varieties, treat seeds with
fungicide, destroy infected plants.
Fusarium Wilt of Tomato

Causative Agent:
Fusarium oxysporum.

Characteristics:
Infects tomato, banana, coffee, and other crops.
Thrives in warm, dry weather and acidic soil pH (5.0 - 5.6).
Resistant tomato varieties can become susceptible if weakened by root-knot
nematode.

Symptoms:
Vein clearing on younger leaflets, wilting, yellowing of leaves, necrosis, and
stunting.
Infected roots rot, leading to reduced productivity.

Pathogen Characteristics:
Produces microconidia, macroconidia, and chlamydospores.
Soil-borne and clogs xylem vessels, blocking water transport.
Disease Development: Survives in soil and plant debris, spreads via water and
equipment.

Control:
Use resistant varieties, soil sterilization for greenhouses, healthy seed, hot-water
treatment of seeds, solarization of field soil.
Alternaria Diseases

Causative Agent:
Alternaria species.

Characteristics:
Affects leaves, stems, flowers, and fruits of various plants including potatoes and
tomatoes.
Overwinters on plant debris, spreads via airborne spores.
More severe in wet or humid conditions.

Early Blight of Potato and Tomato:

Symptoms: Brown or black spots on leaves, concentric rings, stem lesions,
sunken fruit lesions.
Pathogen: Produces dark-colored mycelium and conidia.

Development of Disease:
Overwinters in plant debris, spreads by wind and rain, penetrates tissue directly
or through wounds.

Control:
Resistant varieties, disease-free seeds, fungicides, nitrogen fertilizer, crop
rotation, removal of plant debris, UV light-absorbing film in greenhouses
Bacterial blight of Beans
Causative Agents:
Common blight: Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli
Halo blight: Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola
Bacterial brown spot: Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae

Symptoms:
Water-soaked spots on leaves, coalescing and becoming necrotic.
Yellow zones in common blight, cream/silver exudate in halo blight and brown spots.
Stem lesions, bacterial exudate, systemic infection via vascular system.

Development of Disease:
Overwinters in infected seed and stems, spreads to leaves and stems, causes systemic
infection.

Control:
Disease-free seed, crop rotation, copper fungicides.

Bacteria soft rot of potato

Causative Agents:
Pectobacterium carotovorum , previously genus Erwinia carotovora
.Erwinia carotovora is the agent of soft rot of potatoes and causes important crop
damage in Europe.

Characteristics:
Produces pectinase enzyme and other cell wall-degrading enzymes.
Gram-negative, non-sporing, facultative anaerobes.

Symptoms:
Water-soaked, soft tissue areas, foul-smelling odor, latent infection in tubers.
Favored by cool, wet soils (10-15°C) and temperatures above 20°C after emergence.

Development of Disease:
Latent infection in commercial seed-grade stocks.
Control:
•Seed tuber health •Crop rotation •Drainage •Early harvest •Storage care
Bacterial Fruit Blotch of Watermelon

Location: watermelon-producing areas in the United States.

Impact: High losses due to rind disfigurement making the fruit unmarketable, though
the fruit remains safe to eat.

Symptoms:
Early Signs: Water-soaked, then dry necrotic areas on the undersides of cotyledons
and leaves.
Mature Fruit:Large infected areas or lesions on the outer layer appearing
water-soaked or oily.
Lesions located on the top or sides of the fruit.
Initially, the tissue in the lesions is as firm as unaffected areas and does not extend
deeper than the rind.
Progression leads to brownish and bumpy surface lesions.

Pathogen:
Name: Acidovorax avenae.
Characteristics: Gram-negative, rod-shaped, motile bacterium with a single polar
flagellum.

Disease Development:
Overwintering: In seed from infected plants.
Spread: Even a small percentage of infected seeds can infect a large percentage of
plants.
Leaf Infections: Do not significantly damage plants but provide inoculum for fruit
infection.
Fruit Infection: Occurs during flowering and fruit set, remains dormant until ripening.
Lesion Development: Lesions appear after ripening; no further spread during transit
or storage.
Spread Conditions: Favored by rain and overhead irrigation.

Control:
Use seeds free of the fruit blotch bacteria.
Rotate watermelon fields with non-cucurbit crops for at least a year.
Avoid working in fields when wet and using overhead irrigation.
Apply copper bactericides from flowering until all fruit are mature if infected plants are
Bacterial Spot of Tomato and Pepper

Pathogen: Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria.

Affected Plants: Tomato and pepper.
Impact: Affects leaves, stems, and fruit; different strains affect either or
both plants.

Symptoms:
Leaves: irregular, black, greasy lesions. Leaves may turn yellow, appear
rough, or fall off.
Flowers: Infection often results in blossom drop.
Green Fruit: Small, water-soaked, slightly raised spots with greenish-
white halos that later disappear. Spots enlarge , becoming dark brown,
slightly sunken, with a scabby surface.

Pathogen:
Several species of gram-negative bacteria in the genus Xanthomonas,
producing yellow, mucoid colonies in culture.

Disease Development:
Overwintering: On contaminated seeds, infected plant debris in soil, and
weeds.
Spread: By rain, wind, or contact. Bacteria penetrate leaves and fruits
through wounds and stomata.

Control :
Use bacteria-free seeds and seedlings.
Grow resistant varieties.
Implement crop rotations.
Spray with copper bactericides tank mixed with mancozeb or maneb
Bacterial Crown Gall Disease

Worldwide.
Hosts: Mostly on pome and stone fruit trees, brambles, and grapes.
Symptoms: Tumors or galls on lower stem and main roots, leading to poor growth and
reduced yields.
Similarities: Histologically similar to human and animal cancers.

Symptoms:
Early Signs: Small, round, whitish, soft overgrowths on stem and roots, particularly
near the soil line.
Tumor Development:
Tumors enlarge, surfaces become convoluted, and outer tissues turn dark brown due
to cell death and decay.
Irregular swelling, some tumors spongy and detachable, others woody and hard.
Additional Effects: Plants may become dwarfed, produce small, chlorotic leaves, and
be more susceptible to adverse conditions.

Pathogen:
Name: Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
Characteristics: Rod-shaped, gram-negative soil bacteria with a few flagella.
Virulence: Depends on the presence of tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmids.
Mechanism:
Introduces T-DNA from Ti plasmid into plant cells, transforming them into tumor cells.
This T-DNA parasitizes the plant's genetic machinery, redirecting metabolic activities
to benefit the bacterium

Pathogen Survival: In soil and infected plant tissues.

Control:
Heat Treatment: The most effective method.
Steam: At 60°C for 30 minutes.
Solarization: Double-tent at 71°C for 30 minutes or 60°C for 1 hour
Common Scab of Potato

Pathogen: Streptomyces scabies.

Occurrence: Widespread in neutral or slightly alkaline soils, especially during
dry years.
Hosts: Affects potatoes, beets, radishes, and other root crops.
Impact: Primarily reduces crop value due to blemishes, severe infections can
reduce yields and increase waste in peeling.

Symptoms:
Early Signs: Small, brownish, raised spots on tubers.
Progression: Spots enlarge, coalesce, become corky, and lesions extend 3-4
mm deep into the tuber.

Pathogen:
Name: Streptomyces scabies.
Characteristics: Gram-positive, soil-borne bacterium forming mycelium made of
hyphae.
Structure: Slender, branched mycelium with few cross walls.
Spore Production: Cylindrical spores (0.6 by 1.5 micrometers) on specialized
spiral hyphae.
Survival: Can survive indefinitely in most soils except the most acidic ones.

Disease Development:
Pathogen Survival: As a saprophyte in soil.

Control:
Seed Treatment: Use certified scab-free seed potatoes or treat seeds with
pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB) or maneb-zinc dust.
Crop Rotation: Can help manage the disease in infested fields.
Soil pH Management: Bringing and holding the soil pH to about 5.3 can help
control the disease.
Physiology of Virus-Infected Plants

General Effects of Viruses on Plants:

Photosynthesis Decrease:
Decrease chlorophyll per leaf. chlorophyll efficiency.Decreased leaf area per plant.

Hormone Levels:
Viruses usually cause a decrease in the amount of growth-regulating substances (hormones)
in the plan

Nitrogen Content:
Decrease in soluble nitrogen during rapid virus synthesis.

Respiration:
Increased immediately after virus infection.

Diseases Caused by Tobamoviruses: Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV)

Genus: Tobamovirus contains more than a dozen rod-shaped viruses.

Genome: One positive RNA.
Protein Coat: Single species of protein subunit arranged in a helix.

Important Viruses:
Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) infects tobacco and other plants.
Tomato mosaic virus infects tomatoes.

Symptoms:
General: Mottling, chlorosis, curling, distortion, and dwarfing of leaves, flowers, and entire
plants.
Specific:Necrotic areas on leaves.
Tomato leaflets may become long and pointed or shoestring-like.
Reduced fruit set in young plants; blemishes and internal browning in fruits.

Development of Disease:
Stability: Extremely stable, It over seasons in infected tobacco stalks and leaves in the soil,
on the surface of contaminated seeds, and for many years in cigarettes, and cigars.
Transmission:By handling contaminated products or infected plants.
From the point of entrance (wound)Virus moves cell-to-cell through plasmodesmata, .
When it reaches the phloem, travels systemically through it and infects the entire plant.
Diseases Caused by Tobraviruses: Tobacco Rattle Virus

Genus: Tobravirus, named after tobacco rattle virus.

Hosts: Significant losses in tobacco, potato, and other crops.
Structure: Two rod-shaped particles, each with positive ss RNA.
Transmission: By nematodes .

Symptoms:
Leaves: Necrosis, yellow markings (blotching, mottling, mosaic, ringspot), distortion.

Development of Disease:
Overseasoning: Infected perennial plants; nematodes transmit virus to cultivated plants.
Virus Multiplication: In cytoplasm of parenchyma cells, spreading cell-to-cell and
systemically through phloem.
Inclusions: Characteristic cytoplasmic inclusions of virus particles around mitochondria.

Diseases Caused by Furoviruses: Beet Necrotic Yellow Vein Virus (BNYVV)

Genus: Furovirus.
Structure: Two rod-shaped particles, each with positive RNA.
Significant Virus: Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV), causes rhizomania disease in
sugar beets, transmitted by Polymyxa betae.

Symptoms:
General: Blotched appearance, stunted growth, mottled or ringed leaves.
Roots: Reduced size or excessive branching (rhizomania).
Yield: Drastically reduced.

Development of Disease:
Overseasoning: In resting spores of vectors and perennial hosts.
Transmission: By viruliferous zoospores of vectors to healthy plants.
Movement: Some furoviruses (e.g., potato mop-top virus) seem to move systemically
through the xylem rather than the phloem.

Control:
Virus-Free Seeds: Plant in clean fields. Vector Control: Fumigation or changing soil pH;
often not economical.
Diseases Caused by Sequiviridae, Genus Waikavirus

Waikaviruses: Named for rice waika (stunting) virus, includes the rice tungro spherical
virus.
Structure: Isometric, RNA genome.
Hosts: Infects specific grain crops and weeds.
Transmission: By leafhoppers or aphids in a semipersistent manner.
Control: Use virus- or vector-resistant, or virus-tolerant, varieties.

Rice Tungro:
Geography: Most serious in south and southeast Asia.
Cause: infection by two viruses: RNA virus rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV) and the
DNA virus rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV).
Transmission: By several leafhoppers.
Symptoms: Stunting, mottling, yellow-orange discoloration of leaves.

Diseases Caused by Comoviruses

Structure: Isometric viruses with two RNAs, each contained in a separate identical
particle.
Cytoplasmic Effects: Formation of large vacuolated and crystalline inclusion bodies.
Transmission: Mechanical inoculation and specific leaf-feeding beetles.

Diseases Caused by Cucumoviruses

Named After: Cucumber mosaic virus.

Structure: Isometric particles with three RNA components.
RNA1 and RNA2 in separate particles.
RNA3 and subgenomic RNA4 together in a third particle.
Transmission: Easily transmitted mechanically
Diseases Caused by Reoviridae

Structure: Isometric RNA viruses.

Symptoms: The plant Reoviridae causes galls or tumors on their hosts except for the rice
dwarf virus.The rice dwarf virus causes stunting and chlorotic spote on the plants it infect
Transmission: By specific leafhoppers and planthoppers.
Dual Host: Multiples in both insects and plants.

Plant Diseases Caused by Rhabdoviruses

Structure: Bacilliform particles, the largest among plant viruses, with negative RNA.
Examples: Lettuce necrotic yellows virus, potato yellow dwarf virus, rice transitory yellowing
virus, wheat striate mosaic virus.
Symptoms: Mosaics, vein clearing, yellowing, dwarfing, malformations, necrosis.
Transmission: By leafhoppers, planthoppers, or aphids.

Plant Diseases Caused by Tospoviruses

Named After: Tomato spotted wilt virus.

Structure: Spherical particles with three linear RNAs; large RNA is negative RNA.
Transmission: By at least seven species of thrips.
Acquisition: Thrips larvae, not adults, acquire the virus from infected plants.

Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV)

Symptoms: Bronzing and necrosis of tomato plants, rings of spotted wilt on fruits.
Vector: Thrips.

Plant Diseases Caused by Circoviridae

Structure: Small, isometric with multiple circular DNA components (6 to 11).

Transmission: By aphids (banana bunchy top virus) or planthoppers (coconut foliar decay
virus).

Banana Bunchy Top Virus:

Significance: Most important virus disease of bananas, causing severe losses.
Symptoms: New leaves develop dark green streaks on petioles and veins, chlorotic margins.
Impact: Infected plants produce no fruit.