Indroduction to Plant Pathlogy: Lec 1

NEELAMBARI
Guest Faculty
Department Of Botany
Fobesganj College, ForbesganJ
 Abiotic vs. Biotic Plant Problems
Discuss:
• Abiotic Plant Problems
• Biotic Plant Problems (Plant Diseases)
• Disease Triangle
• Plant Pathogens: Bacteria, Fungi,
Oomycota, Viruses, Viroids,
Nematodes
2 Photos used from various UF/IFAS Extension Publications or provided by UF/IFAS faculty and staff, unless otherwise stated
 Abiotic Plant Problems
Abiotic plant problems are caused by
environmental factors, either natural or man-made
non-infectious, non-living (abiotic = without life)
• Unfavorable soil properties or structure
• Nutrient imbalances
• Moisture extremes
• Temperature extremes
• Light extremes
• Physical injuries
• Chemical toxicity
• And in Florida, lightning strikes!
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 Abiotic Human Problems
• Vitamin deficiencies
• Cholesterol imbalances
• Mercury or lead poisoning
• Broken bones
• Burns
• Allergic Reaction
• Others?
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 Abiotic Plant Problems
• Can kill plants
• Can predispose plants to infection by plant
pathogens
• Can be natural, such as temperature extremes
• Can be due to human activity, such as improper
use of fertilizers or pesticides
• It is common to have both biotic and abiotic
problems affecting plant at same time,
independently!
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 Abiotic: Physical Injuries
• Lightning strikes
• Car or lawn equipment exhaust
• Animals - moles, armadillos, urine

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 Abiotic: Cold Temperatures

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 Abiotic: Plants can be sunburned
too – not just tourists!

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 Abiotic: Excess Water

Oedema: little pimples form

on leaf; roots taking up water
faster than plant can use or
transpire

T. Broschat, UF/IFAS/FLREC

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 Abiotic: Low Soil Moisture

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 Abiotic: Nutrient Deficiency

Tomato: Calcium Palm: Potassium Citrus: Zinc

Sunflower: Iron Celosia: Manganese Palm: Manganese

11 Photos from various UF/IFAS Extension Publications

 Abiotic: Chemical Damage

Herbicide damage

Herbicide damage

Excessive iron chelete applied to soil

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 Biotic Plant Problems
Biotic plant problems or diseases
require a second organism that will
infect the plant and disrupt its
normal appearance and growth –
infectious, living

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 Plant Disease Triangle
Susceptible Host
• Immunity or resistance is the rule for plants
• Some plant pathogens are very host
specific; others have a wide host range
Pathogen
• Pathogens are not found “everywhere”
Favorable Environment
• All the environmental factors surrounding
the host and pathogen may help the
pathogen infect the host and determine the
severity of disease development.
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 Plant Disease Triangle
Susceptible
Host

DISEASE
Favorable
Pathogen
Environment

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 Plant Disease Triangle

X
Susceptible
NO

X
Host Pathogen
Pathogen
Disease NO
Disease
Favorable Favorable
Environment Environment

Pathogen

X
NO
Disease
Favorable
Environment

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 Plant Pathogens
•Fungi
•Oomycetes
•Bacteria (including fastidious
bacteria)
•Viruses and Viroids
•Nematodes

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 Fungi and Oomycetes
• Oomycetes used to be considered a family
within the Kingdom Fungi
• Fungi now considered more closely related
to animals than Oomycetes
• Oomycetes now considered more closely
related to plants and algae
• Both fungi and Oomycetes are eukaryotes
that digest food externally and absorb
nutrients directly through their cell walls
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 Fungi and Oomycetes
Life styles:
• Heterotroph: obtain carbon and energy from
other organisms
• Biotroph: obtain nutrients from living host
• Saprotroph (saprophyte, saprobe): obtain
nutrients from dead host
• Nectrotroph: infect a living host, then kill host
cells to obtain nutrients
• Obligate: can only grown in association with
its host plant (can’t grow on artificial media)
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 Fungi and Oomycota
Character
Sexual reproduction
Nuclear state of
vegetative mycelium
Cell wall composition
Type of flagella on
zoospores, if produced
Mitochondria
Oomycota True Fungi
Oospores not produced;
Heterogametangia;
Sexual reproduction
Fertilization of oospheres
results in zygospores,
by nuclei from antheridia
ascospores or
forming oospores.
basidiospores
Diploid Haploid or dikaryotic
Chitin; cellulose rarely
Beta glucans, cellulose
present
Two types; one whiplash,
If flagellum produced,
directed posteriorly; the
usually of only one type:
other fibrous, ciliated,
posterior, whiplash
directed anteriorly
With tubular cristae With flattened cristae

From: Why are Phytophthora and other Oomycota not true Fungi? By Amy Y. Rossman and Mary E. Palm
http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/PathogenGroups/Pages/Oomycetes.aspx
Also see: http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/PathogenGroups/Pages/IntroOomycetes.aspx
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 Oomycota
Phytophthora:
• Zoospores emerging from sporangium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB4QYN7dlgc

• Zoospores attracted to root exudates

and infecting the root
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxF8OwDtJh0&ebc=ANyPxKr-XPjQG4MBmaGz5uf5
WqgjD3b5370YlqKjvvIxp1IOGGJso3YgDPyd2RI8niluJ1hxA-ALaRk9ZdlDQk2P3tGW
EQXIkw

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 Oomycota
Diseases caused by Oomycetes:
• Root rots of numerous plants
Pythium spp.
• Late blight of potato and tomato
Phytophthora infestans
• Downy mildew of grape and impatiens
Plasmopara viticola – grapes
Plasmopara obducens – impatiens
• Sudden oak death (Ramorum blight)
killing oak species in CA
Phytopthora ramorum
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 True Fungi
Fun Fungal Factoids:
• About 99,000 known fungal species, and we
add about 1,200 each year
• Most plant diseases (70%) are caused by fungi
• But, fewer than 10% of the known fungi cause
plant diseases

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 True Fungi
Fun Fungal Factoids:
• Plant pathogenic fungi are parasites, but not all
plant parasitic fungi are pathogens!!
• Parasite obtains nutrients from a living host plant
 If causes disease with symptoms (disrupts
normal growth and appearance of plant),
parasite is a pathogen
 If simply depends on plant host for
nutrition, parasite is either a beneficial
symbiont or an endophyte
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 True Fungi
Fun Fungal Factoids:
• Endophyte example:
• Neotyphodium (Ascomycota) – beneficial
for landscape grasses (heat and water
stress) but not beneficial for pasture grasses
as fungus produces alkaloids that are bad
for animals

• Beneficial symbiont examples:

• Mycorrhizae – root/fungal association
• Lichen – algal/fungal association
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 True Fungi
Main fungal groups (phyla):
• Ascomycota
• Basidiomycota
• Chytridiomycota
• Zygomycota
• Glomeromycota (arbuscular
mycorrhizae)
• Sixth one may be added
http://
www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/PathogenGroups/Pages/IntroFungi.aspx
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 True Fungi
Four phyla with plant pathogens:
• Ascomycota – most plant pathogens
• Basidiomycota – Rusts, Smuts and Rotters
• Chytridiomycota – pathogens and vectors of
plant viruses
• Zygomycota – Mucor, Rhizopus – post-harvest
diseases of fleshy fruits and vegetables

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 Ascomycota
Fungi and Sex and Names
• If a fungus is reproducing without sex, spores produced
are asexual spores = conidia, which come in all
different sizes, shapes and colors
• If fungus is reproducing with sex, spores produced are
sexual spores = ascospores
• Ascospores are produced in a saclike structure called an
ascus
• Fungi often have two Latin names – one for the asexual
stage and one for the sexual stage
• Some fungi only produce conidia; some fungi only
produce ascopsores; some fungi produce both
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 Ascomycota: Sexual Spores
By Beth Des Jardin, UF/IFAS, FLREC

By CarmelitaLevin - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?

curid=41198109

By CarmelitaLevin - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41198837 By Beth Des Jardin, UF/IFAS, FLREC

29 Sordaria asci and ascospores Serenomyces asci and ascospores

 Ascomycota: Asexual Spores

Pestalotiopsis Lasiodiplodia Exserohilum

Phomopsis Fusarium Cylindrocladium

30 All photos by Beth Des Jardin, UF/IFAS, FLREC
 Basidiomycota
(Rusts, Smuts and Wood Rotters)
Rusts
• can produce up to 5 different spore types
• can complete life cycle on one host, or some
complete their life cycle on two hosts
• devastating diseases that humans have dealt with
since they started cultivating crops (wheat, etc.)
• we are still trying to manage these diseases,
primarily by breeding for resistance

Life cycle of wheat stem rust

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeuP5IYP5HA
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 Basidiomycota
(Rusts, Smuts and Wood Rotters)
Smuts
Ustilago maydis
Corn Smut Ustilago nuda
Huitlacoche Loose Smut

By Boom10ful (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Tilletia indica
Karnal Bunt
basidiospore

By Rasbak (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)

or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via
Wikimedia Commons

32 Jim Plaskowitz, USDA/ARS, Public Domain

 Basidiomycota
(Rusts, Smuts and Wood Rotters)
Armillaria tabescens

Wood Rotters Armillaria Root Rot

Ganoderma zonatum
Ganoderma Butt Rot

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 Chytridiomycota
• include pathogens and a vector of a plant virus
• obligate fungi

By USDA-APHIS-PPQ - USDA-APHIS-PPQ Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments, Gerald Holmes, California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, Bugwood.org
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5603175

Synchytrium endobioticum Olpidium brassicae transmits a

Black Wart Disease of Potato virus that causes Lettuce Big Vein
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 Bacteria
 Bacteria
• do not cause nearly as many diseases as fungi
or viruses
• plant pathogens include both gram-positive and
gram-negative bacteria
• easily grow on artificial media
• many species are subdivided into pathovars,
indicating distinctive pathogenicity to one or
more plant hosts
http://
www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/PathogenGroups/Pages/Bacteria.aspx
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 Bacteria
 Fastidious Bacteria
• all are vascular colonizers vectored by insects
• very difficult to grow artificially, if at all
• group without cell walls:
 phytoplasma – phloem-limited; Candidatus
Phytoplasma palmae
 spiroplasma – phloem-limited; Spiroplasma
kunkelii
• group with cell walls:
 phloem-limited bacteria - Candidatus Liberobacter
asiaticum (=Huanglongbing pathogen)
 xylem-limited bacteria - Xylella fastidiosa

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http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/PathogenGroups/Pages/Fastidious.aspx
 Bacteria
• Fastidious bacteria are very small

Spiroplasma

Phytoplasma Xylella
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 Viruses
• are non-cellular; assemble themselves
• mature virus particles are dormant
• they come “alive” and reproduce only inside
infected cells – obligate parasites
• virus particles (virions) composed of:
 genome (nucleic acid) – ss+RNA,
ss-RNA, dsDNA
 protein protective shell (capsid)
 some enveloped within lipoprotein
membrane
http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/PathogenGroups/Pages/PlantViruses.aspx
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http://plantpath.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-virus-profiles/#
 Viruses
• range from 30 nm diameter (spherical viruses)
to 2 µm (filamentous viruses)

McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Bioscience. S.v. "Plant viruses and viroids." Retrieved May 21 2016 from
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Plant+viruses+and+viroids
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 Viruses
• immobile – rely on other organisms to be moved
around from plant to plant
• passive transmission – mechanically, vegetative
propagation (cuttings) or seed
• active transmission requires vector
 plant-feeding arthropods, especially aphids
and whiteflies
 nematodes
 plant-parasitic fungi

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 Viroids
• naked, infectious RNA – no protein coat
• genomes between 246-375 nucleotides
• do not produce any proteins when they
infect a plant cell
• use the host cell RNA polymerase to
reproduce their RNA and move into other
plant cells
• spread through vegetative propagation,
mechanical contamination, pollen and
seed; vectors not necessary
41 http://
 Viroids
• They may be small, but the diseases can still
be devastating!
• Cadang-Cadang is a viroid disease of coconut
palms that has destroyed over 30 million
palms in the Philippines
• Potato spindle tuber viroid is model pathogen

http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/lessons/viruses/Pages/PotatoSpindleTuber.aspx
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 Nematodes
• are roundworms (multicellular animals)
• most are free-living (40%) – feed on
bacteria, fungi, protozoans and other
nematodes
• but, many are parasites of animals (44%)
and plants (15%)
• need water (even if minimal)
• Caenorhabditis elegans – bacterial-
feeding nematode (not plant parasitic)
http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/PathogenGroups/Pages/IntroNematodes.aspx

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http://www.apsnet.org/EDCENTER/K-12/NEWSVIEWS/Pages/Nematodes.aspx
 Nematodes
• Plant Parasitic Nematodes:
 have a hollow mouth spear called a stylet
 stylet connected to pharynx, which is
connected to the intestine
 stylet used to puncture plant cells, withdraw
food, and secrete protein and metabolites that
aid the nematode in parasitizing the plant
Nematode Endoparasitic

Human Hair

Ectoparasitic
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 Bacteria, Fungi, Oomycota,
Viruses, Viroids, Nematodes

Which Plant
Pathogen
Are YOU?
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 Which Plant Pathogen Are You?
is a "personality quiz" aimed at
engaging audiences and creating
awareness about plant pathology.
It can also be used as an ice-
breaker or classroom activity.

This is based on the American Society for Microbiology's

educational activity, What Microbe Are You? A full lesson
plan for the ASM activity can be found online:
www.asm.org/index.php/educators/k-12-classroom-activitie
s/23-education/k-12-teachers/8214-what-microbe-are-you

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 Which Plant Pathogen Are YOU?

#16 I am . . .
Phytophthora capsici
Spots, rots and blights
I am a fungus-like pathogen
(oomycete) that loves my
fruits and veggies - except
lima beans.
Wet, humid conditions help
me thrive. I can cause seed
rots, seedling blights, leaf
spots, fruit rots – look at this
zucchini:

Photo: UF/IFAS, PP176

Oomycota

Electronic Data Information System (EDIS)

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu
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 Which Plant Pathogen Are YOU?
• 30 cards, each with a
#16 I am . . .
Phytophthora capsici different pathogen
Spots, rots and blights
I am a fungus-like pathogen • Many, but not all, have
(oomycete) that loves my
fruits and veggies - except an EDIS document that
lima beans.
Wet, humid conditions help
a you can refer to for
me thrive. I can cause seed
rots, seedling blights, leaf
more information
spots, fruit rots – look at this
zucchini:
• EDIS publications are
reviewed at least every
Photo: UF/IFAS, PP176
3 years to keep the
Oomycota
information up to date
• Photos can be used from EDIS documents, but please
acknowledge the source.
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