Plant Disease Management

Uses an Integrated Approach

• Exclusion
• Plant resistance
• Cultural controls
• Chemicals
• Microbiologicals

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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Exclusion
• Regulation of plant material at ports, city,
county, state or country boundaries – federal
and state rules
• Pathogen-free seed or plants
• Seed certification
• Meristem culture
• Cuttings from clean “mother” plant
under sterile conditions

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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Exclusion
Don’t Pack a Pest
http://www.dontpackapest.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x0S99cwnDqM
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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Exclusion
Where did all the impatiens go?

Downy Mildew caused by Plasmopara obducens on Impatiens walleriana

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp309

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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Plant Resistance
Genetic
• Immunity is the rule in the plant kingdom
• If immunity does not exist, plant breeders develop
cultivars with resistance to specific pathogens
• Constitutive and inducible defenses
Chemically or Biologically Induced
• Application of chemicals or biologicals to induce
production of defense compounds
Adaptation
• Plant adaptation to site
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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Plant Resistance
Genetic

• Graft susceptible top onto resistant root stock

•http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/grafting-for-disease-resistance-in-heirloom-tomatoes
•http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep339: For Florida, roses grafted on 'Fortuniana' rootstock thrive
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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Plant Resistance
Genetic
• Constitutive: continuous defenses; includes
cell walls, waxy epidermal cuticles, bark, leaf
hairs – physical and chemical barriers
• Inducible: defenses (chemicals or proteins)
produced in response to invading pathogens;
includes toxic chemicals, pathogen-degrading
enzymes, deliberate plant cell suicide
http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/topics/Pages/OverviewOfPlantDiseases.aspx
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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Plant Resistance
Genetic
 Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR)
• Activated when pathogen infects tissue
• Long-lasting systemic immunity, even in
tissues not infected
• Relatively broad spectrum
• Usually associated with increase in
phytohormone salicylic acid (SA)

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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Plant Resistance
Chemically Induced
Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR)
• Use of SA or SA analogs can induce
SAR-like responses
• Provides resistance in plant tissues
beyond application site (systemic)
• Often referred to as “plant activators”
• Benzothiadiazoles (ex: Actigard) used
for plant protection
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4306307/pdf/fpls-05-00804.pdf
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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Plant Resistance
Biologically Induced
 Systemic Acquired Resistance SAR)
• Weak viruses
 Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR)
• Triggered by non-pathogenic plant growth
promoting rhizobacteria
• Involves jasmonic acid and ethylene, rather
than salicylic acid

doi: 10.1105/tpc.113.111658. Plant Cell May 2013 vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 1489–1505
doi: 10.1128/AEM.71.9.4951-4959. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Sept. 2005 vol. 71, no. 9, pp. 4951-4959
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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Plant Resistance
Adaptation
“Right Plant for the Right Site”
• temperate vs. tropical; cold induction
• dry vs. rainy
• soil type: sand vs. clay
• day length
• others?
• Genetic resistance can be overcome if
site is not right for the plant species
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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Cultural Controls
• Crop rotation
• Alternate host eradication – for pathogens
and vectors
• Sanitation of tools, equipment, potting
containers, shoes, etc.
• Improved plant environment, especially water
management, air circulation
• Nutrient management
• Soil treatment, such as solarization, tillage
• Mulches or other barriers

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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Chemical Controls
Fungicides Bactericides Nematicides
Insecticides Fumigants
• Seed treatments • Foliar sprays
• Soil treatments • Trunk injections
• Root drenches • Trunk sprays
• Disinfecting tools • Post-harvest use
For fungicides and bactericides, the “cides” is not
accurate. Most suppress rather than kill.
There are no chemicals to use against plant viruses.
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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Chemical Controls

Figure 1. U.S. Crop Protection Fungicide Use

From: http://www.apsnet.org/publications/apsnetfeatures/Pages/Fungicides.aspx

Also see: http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/topics/Pages/Fungicides.aspx

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 Integrated Plant Disease Management
Chemical Controls
Year Fungicide Primary Use
1637 Brine (Salt) Cereal seed treatment
1755 Arsenic Cereal seed treatment
1760 Copper sulfate Cereal seed treatment
1824 Sulfur (dust) Powdery mildew and other pathogens
1833 Lime sulfur Broad spectrum foliar pathogens
1885 Bordeaux mixture Broad spectrum foliar pathogens
1891 Mercury chloride Turf fungicide
1900 CuOCl2 Especially Phytophthora infestans
1914 Phenylmercury chloride Cereal seed treatment
1932 Cu2O Seed and broad spectrum foliar diseases
1934 Dithiocarbamates patented Broad spectrum protectants
1940 Chloranil, Dichlone Broad spectrum seed treatment
From: http://www.apsnet.org/publications/apsnetfeatures/Pages/Fungicides.aspx
(IN)Organic Fungicides: https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/bp/bp-69-w.pdf
Organic Materials Review Institute: http://www.omri.org/
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 Integrated Plant Disease Management
Chemical Controls
Mode of action of some major fungicides classes, their FRAC code and resistance risk
FRAC Resistance
Code Chemical Class Mode of action / inhibition risk
1 Benzimidazoles Beta-tubulin assembly in mitosis (cytoskeleton and motor proteins) high
2 Dicarboximides MAP/Histidine-kinase in osmotic signal transduction medium-high
3 Azoles, Pyrimidines C-14 demethylation in sterol biosynthesis in membranes medium
4 Phenylamides RNA polymerase I (nucleic acid synthesis) high
5 Morpholines ^8 and ^7 isomerase and ^14 reductase in sterol biosynthesis low-medium
7 Carboxamides Succinic acid oxidation (respiration) medium
9 Anilinopyrimidine Methionine biosynthesis (amino acid and protein synthesis) medium
11 Strobilurins Mitochondrial synthesis in cytochrome bc1 (respiration) high
16 Various chemistry Melanin biosynthesis (two sites) in cell wall medium
40 Carboxylic acid amides Cellulose synthase (cell wall formation in Oomycetes) low-medium
M1 Inorganics Multisite contact low
M3 Dithiocarbamates Multisite contact low
M5 Phthalimides Multisite contact low

Fungicide Resistance Action Committee: http://www.frac.info; http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pi131

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Integrated Plant Disease Management

Chemical Controls

From:

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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Microbiological Controls
 Fungi: Trichoderma, Candida, Muscodor, Pythium, Ulocladium,
Verticillium

 Bacteria: Bacillus group, Streptomyces, Xanthomonas,

Pseudomonas, Pantoea, Pasteuria, Agrobacterium, Paecilomyces,
Burkholdaria

http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/advanced/topics/Pages/BiologicalControl.aspx
https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides

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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Microbiological Controls
 Effective because they produce:
• Antibiotics • Detoxification enzymes
• Lytic enzymes • Iron-chelating siderophores
• Biocidal volatiles

 Effective because they outcompete the

pathogens

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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

Microbiological Controls

Bacillus subtilis strains:

•QST 713
•MBI 600
•GB03
•FZB24
Registered by EPA as biopesticide

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Plant Disease Management
Uses an Integrated Approach
• Exclusion
• Plant resistance
• Cultural controls
• Chemicals
• Microbiologicals

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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

GMOs
Is there a place for
GMOs in our integrated
plant disease
management tool box?
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 Integrated Plant Disease Management

GMOs
Some diseases cannot be
controlled with any currently
available methods!
Florida Example:
Bacterial Spot Disease of Tomatoes
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: What the Future Could Hold for Bs2 Tomatoes
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1259

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