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Texas root rot is a disease that is fairly common in Mexico and the southwestern United States resulting in sudden wilt and death of affected plants, usually during the warmer months. It is caused by a soil-borne fungus named Phymatotrichopsis omnivora that attacks the roots of susceptible plants. It was first discovered in 1888 by Pammel and later named by Duggar in 1916.
Phytophthora palmivora is an oomycete that causes bud-rot of palms, fruit-rot or kole-roga of coconut and areca nut. These are among the most serious diseases caused by fungi and moulds in South India. It occurs almost every year in Malnad, Mysore, North & South Kanara, Malabar and other areas. Similar diseases of palms are also known to occur in Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and Sumatra. The causative organism was first identified as P. palmivora by Edwin John Butler in 1917.
Scald is common disease of barley in temperate regions. It is caused by the fungus Rhynchosporium commune and can cause significant yield losses in cooler, wet seasons.
Common bunt, also known as hill bunt, Indian bunt European bunt, stinking smut or covered smut, is a disease of both spring and winter wheats. It is caused by two very closely related fungi, Tilletia tritici and T. laevis.
The fungus Cochliobolus sativus is the teleomorph of Bipolaris sorokiniana (anamorph) which is the causal agent of a wide variety of cereal diseases. The pathogen can infect and cause disease on roots, leaf and stem, and head tissue. C. sativus is extremely rare in nature and thus it is the asexual or anamorphic stage which causes infections. The two most common diseases caused by B. sorokiniana are spot blotch and common root rot, mainly on wheat and barley crops.
Bacterial blight is a disease of barley caused by the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. translucens. It has been known as a disease since the late 19th century. It has a worldwide distribution.
Common root rot is a fungal disease of barley caused by Cochliobolus sativus, Fusarium culmorum and F. graminearum.
Fusarium culmorum is a fungal plant pathogen and the causal agent of seedling blight, foot rot, ear blight, stalk rot, common root rot and other diseases of cereals, grasses, and a wide variety of monocots and dicots. In coastal dunegrass, F. culmorum is a nonpathogenic symbiont conferring both salt and drought tolerance to the plant.
Glomerella graminicola is an economically important crop parasite affecting both wheat and maize where it causes the plant disease Anthracnose Leaf Blight.
Phytophthora cactorum is a fungal-like plant pathogen belonging to the Oomycota phylum. It is the causal agent of root rot on rhododendron and many other species, as well as leather rot of strawberries.
Pythium ultimum is a plant pathogen. It causes the damping off and root rot diseases of hundreds of diverse plant hosts including corn, soybean, potato, wheat, fir, and many ornamental species. P. ultimum belongs to the peronosporalean lineage of oomycetes, along with other important plant pathogens such as Phytophthora spp. and many genera of downy mildews. P. ultimum is a frequent inhabitant of fields, freshwater ponds, and decomposing vegetation in most areas of the world. Contributing to the widespread distribution and persistence of P. ultimum is its ability to grow saprotrophically in soil and plant residue. This trait is also exhibited by most Pythium spp. but not by the related Phytophthora spp., which can only colonize living plant hosts.
Gibberella zeae, also known by the name of its anamorph Fusarium graminearum, is a fungal plant pathogen which causes fusarium head blight (FHB), a devastating disease on wheat and barley. The pathogen is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Infection causes shifts in the amino acid composition of wheat, resulting in shriveled kernels and contaminating the remaining grain with mycotoxins, mainly deoxynivalenol (DON), which inhibits protein biosynthesis; and zearalenone, an estrogenic mycotoxin. These toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in livestock, and are harmful to humans through contaminated food. Despite great efforts to find resistance genes against F. graminearum, no completely resistant variety is currently available. Research on the biology of F. graminearum is directed towards gaining insight into more details about the infection process and reveal weak spots in the life cycle of this pathogen to develop fungicides that can protect wheat from scab infection.
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a plant pathogenic fungus and can cause a disease called white mold if conditions are conducive. S. sclerotiorum can also be known as cottony rot, watery soft rot, stem rot, drop, crown rot and blossom blight. A key characteristic of this pathogen is its ability to produce black resting structures known as sclerotia and white fuzzy growths of mycelium on the plant it infects. These sclerotia give rise to a fruiting body in the spring that produces spores in a sac which is why fungi in this class are called sac fungi (Ascomycota). This pathogen can occur on many continents and has a wide host range of plants. When S. sclerotiorum is onset in the field by favorable environmental conditions, losses can be great and control measures should be considered.
Diplocarpon earlianum is a species of fungus that causes disease in strawberry plants called strawberry leaf scorch. The disease overwinters in plant debris and infects strawberry plants during the spring season when it is wet. The five main methods to reduce strawberry leaf scorch include: irrigation techniques, crop rotation, planting resistant and disease-free seeds, fungicide use, and sanitation measures. Control of strawberry leaf scorch is important because it is responsible for the majority of disease in strawberries. Diplocarpon earliana affects the fruit quality and yield of the strawberry crop. Losses range from negligible to severe depending on numerous epidemiological factors including cultivar susceptibility, type of cropping system, and weather conditions
Ascochyta is a genus of ascomycete fungi, containing several species that are pathogenic to plants, particularly cereal crops. The taxonomy of this genus is still incomplete. The genus was first described in 1830 by Marie-Anne Libert, who regarded the spores as minute asci and the cell contents as spherical spores. Numerous revisions to the members of the genus and its description were made for the next several years. Species that are plant pathogenic on cereals include, A. hordei, A. graminea, A. sorghi, A. tritici. Symptoms are usually elliptical spots that are initially chlorotic and later become a necrotic brown. Management includes fungicide applications and sanitation of diseased plant tissue debris.
Phytophthora capsici is an oomycete plant pathogen that causes blight and fruit rot of peppers and other important commercial crops. It was first described by L. Leonian at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Experiment Station in Las Cruces in 1922 on a crop of chili peppers. In 1967, a study by M. M. Satour and E. E. Butler found 45 species of cultivated plants and weeds susceptible to P. capsici In Greek, Phytophthora capsici means "plant destroyer of capsicums". P. capsici has a wide range of hosts including members of the families Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae as well as Fabaceae.
Colletotrichum cereale is a plant disease (fungus) that has been found to cause crown rot anthracnose of turf grass most commonly occurring on golf courses. Anthracnose can occur as both a foliar blight and basal rot. This disease attacks the crowns of plants, which is different than other anthracnose diseases. Anthracnose of turfgrass can be a foliar disease or in this case a basal rot of the lower portion of the plant. It attacks different species of turfgrass throughout the world most commonly annual bluegrass and creeping bentgrass.
Collar rot is a symptomatically described disease that is usually caused by any one of various fungal and oomycete plant pathogens. It is present where the pathogen causes a lesion localized at or about the collet between the stem and the root. The lesions develop around the stem eventually forming a "collar". Observationally, collar rot grades into "basal stem rot", and with some pathogens is the first phase of "basal stem rot" often followed by "root rot". Collar rot is most often observed in seedings grown in infected soil. The pathogens that cause collar rot may be species or genera specific. But generalist pathogens such as Athelia rolfsii are known to attack over 200 different species. While bacteria caused collar rot is not common, trees infected with Fire blight may develop collar rot. Non-parasitic collar rot may be caused by winter damage.
Buckeye rot of tomato is caused by three species pathogen Phytophthora: P. nicotianae var. parasitica, P. capsici, and P. drechsleri. It is a fungus that thrives in warm, wet conditions and lives in the soil. It is characterized by a bull’s eye pattern of dark brown rotting on the tomato fruit, and affects fruit that is close to, or lying on the soil. The easiest management is to keep the plant out of contact with the soil, although other chemical methods can be very effective. This disease commonly occurs in the southeast and south central areas of the United States. The disease has affected a large portion of crop yield in the United States as well as India. The relatively small genome size of Phytophthora parasitica compared to Phytophthora infestans gives researchers the unique ability to further examine its ability to cause disease.
Thousands of plant diseases have been recorded throughout the world, many of these causing heavy crop losses. Early detection and accurate diagnosis is essential for the effective management of plant disease. Thus the first step in studying any disease is its timely detection of the diseased plant. Quick initial detection is largely based on the signs and symptoms of disease.