Plant Pathology

Plant Pathology deals with the diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, virus and nematodes and their management. The scientific principles involved in plant disease control, however came to light only with our understanding of the microbial nature of the diseases and the life cycle of the pathogens. Plant pathology is defined as the study of the organisms and environmental conditions that cause disease in plants, the mechanisms by which this occurs, the interactions between these causal agents and the plant effects on plant growth, yield and quality, and the methods of managing or controlling plant disease. It also interfaces knowledge from other scientific fields such as mycology, microbiology, virology, biochemistry, bio-informatics etc.

Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. Plant pathogenic fungi. 3. Characteristics and family of fungi. 4. Plant disease management. 5. Bacterial plant pathogens. 6. Plant pathogenic nematodes. 7. Viruses. 8. Population genetics and phylogenetics in plant pathology.