PLANT DISEASES

LECTURE OUTLINE
DISEASE
IMPORTANCE
CAUSES OF PLANT DISEASE
CLASSIFICATION OF PLANT DISEASE
CONDITIONS FOR DISEASE DEVELOPMENT
PATHOGENESIS
 DISEASE
The term DISEASE is coined by combining the words DIS +
EASE = DISEASE.
 The prefix DIS means negative, reverse, or opposite, and the
word EASE means comfort, or freedom from pain or
discomfort.
DIS-EASE therefore means not well, and the cause can be
many.
A plant disease may therefore be defined as:
• Any harmful deviation or alteration from the normal functioning of
physiological processes.
It is also defined by some as:
Disease is a malfunctioning process that is caused by continuous irritation
which results in suffering.
A more practical definition of a disease would be:
A plant is diseased when its systems are not normal and, therefore, it is not
producing as well as it should according to normal expectations of the
farmers.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANT DISEASE
• Plant diseases are important because of the loss they cause.
• Bhutan experienced for the first time one of the worst rice blast epidemic in 1995 during which most of the
rice growers in paro and thimphu suffered heavy losses.
• Similarly the late blight disease of potato which is caused by a fungus (phytophthora infestans) is quite
endemic and appears again and again when the monsoon is heavy. Once the disease spread it will inflict
heavy loss to potato growers.
• Apple scab is another disease in apples grown in the high altitudes of thimphu, paro, haa and bumthang.
For this, most of the orchard owners in the above regions carry out regular spraying with fungicides.
• Chilli wilt disease has become another headache for the agriculture extension. We have not yet found out
any reliable solution. While the incidence of diseases on minor crops may not be of much concern, when
diseases bring about a heavy loss on important cash crops like potato and apple and staple crops like rice,
it is a cause for much concern.
• One cannot afford to neglect the plant disease aspects.
 CAUSES OF PLANT DISEASE
A) NON-INFECTIOUS DISEASE/ ABIOTIC DISEASE- Caused by natural
agencies
B) INFECTIOUS DISEASE/ BIOTIC DISEASE - Caused by pathogens; Infectious
means that which tends to spread from one plant to another or from one part
of the plant to the other.
A) NON-INFECTIOUS PLANT DISEASE: Possible causes include:
1. Weather
2. Nutrient deficiency
3. Toxic substances
1) THE WEATHER:

I. Lightning - can scorch plants, and break and burn old shrubs and trees.
II. Rain/hail stone - heavy rain cause physical damage to young plants, and hail
stones cause flower and fruit drops.
III. Wind - breaks leaves and branches and when strong, uproots whole shrubs and
trees and cause lodging of field crops (buck wheat, rice, maize etc. are prone
to lodging)
IV. Drought - causes yellowing, leaf curling, wilt and eventual death of plants.
V. Flooding - causes yellowing, slow development and death through lack of air at
roots.
VI. Strong sun - yellowing and scorching of leaves, wilting and death.
VII. Frost - most crops cannot tolerate frost bites
2) NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES
• Deficiency of nutrients can cause symptoms like yellowing, reddening, spotting, stunting, distorted growth and
death. However, symptoms vary with the element involved.
2) TOXIC SUBSTANCES IN THE SOIL OR AIR
• Too much elements required by plants can cause death, with similar symptoms to deficiencies.

B) Infectious plant disease: These can be caused by:

I. fungi
II. bacteria
III. viruses
IV. nematodes
V. algae
VI. parasitic plants
 CLASSIFICATION OF PLANT DISEASES
Plant diseases can be classified in various ways depending upon the purpose
of discussion
1. Based on plant part affected:
I. localized disease- affecting only a part of the plant;
II. systemic disease- affecting the entire plant
2. Based on symptoms: rusts, smuts, wilts, blights, cankers, mildews, rots,
damping-off, die-back, scab etc.
3. Based on the host plant: cereal crop disease, root crop disease, forage
crop disease, plantation crop disease etc.
4. Based on their occurrence:
I. Endemic disease:
The word endemic means prevalent in, and confined to, a particular country or district and is
applied to disease. These diseases are natural to one country or part of the earth.
When a disease is more or less constantly present in one form or other or less constantly
present form year to year in a moderate to severe form, in a particular country or part of
earth, it is classed as endemic.
II) Epidemic or epiphytotic diseases:
The term ‘epidemic’ is derived from a greek word meaning ‘among the people’ and in true
sense applies to those diseases of human beings which appear very virulently among large
section of the population.
To carry the same sense in the case of plant diseases, the term epiphytotic has been coined.
An epiphytotic disease is one which occurs widely but periodically. It may be present
constantly in the locality but assumes severe form only on occasions.
III) Sporadic diseases: Sporadic diseases are those diseases which occur
at very irregular intervals and locations and in relatively few instances.
• A given disease may be endemic in one region and epidemic in
another. When a disease is prevalent throughout the country,
continent or the world it is known as a pandemic disease.
5. Based on the cause: Infectious Disease (Fungal Disease, Bacterial
Disease, Viral Disease), Non-infectious Disease(caused By Nature-frost,
Rain, Wind, Sun, Hail Storm etc.)
 CONDITIONS FOR DISEASE DEVELOPMENT
The pathogens, especially the animate ones, will not always be able to cause
a disease unless environmental conditions and suitability of the host are also
favourable for survival, multiplication, and entry of the pathogen into the
plant and further development of the disease.
For a pathogen to cause a disease, the pathogen has to be virulent in the
first place; the host has to be susceptible, and the environmental conditions
favourable.
Disease will not develop if anyone of the 3 conditions is not fulfilled. This is
known as the disease triangle.
 PATHOGENESIS
Pathogenesis can be defined as the entire chain of events leading to the development
of a disease. In other words it can be termed as a disease cycle. It tells us about the
source of perennation of the pathogen, mode of its dispersal from the source of
survival and during the spread of disease. It also helps us to formulate effective
control measures.
• The events constituting pathogenesis occurs in several well defined steps, one after
the other, to complete the disease cycle.
• The pathogen perennates at some location during the absence of cultivated host
• It gets transported to the cultivated host through some agencies
• The pathogen breaks the host barrier to establish infection
• Effects the host physiology, damage the plant and the plant expresses symptoms
• Finally the pathogen finds an exit from the host through its propagules
 SURVIVAL OF PATHOGEN
• In the absence of their cultivated host, pathogens must find some alternate source of their
survival; otherwise the infection chain will remain incomplete. The same holds true for viral
disease. (Infection chain- chain of events leading to the completion of pathogenesis)
The sources of survival can be grouped into:
1. Infected host as reservoir of inoculum
A) cultivated host
B) wild host of the same family (collateral host)
C) wild host of other family (alternate host)
2. Saprophytic survival outside the host soil and plant debris serve as the media for survival.
E.G. Pythium, rhizoctonia
3. Dormant organs of pathogen as a source of survival and primary inoculum. (Virus and
bacteria have no resting stage); only fungi and nematodes have(spores, cysts etc.)
 GENERAL SYMPTOMS OF PLANT DISEASES
1. Mildew:
Mildews are plant diseases in which the pathogen is seen as a growth on the surface
of the host.
They appear as white, gray, brownish, or purplish patches of varying size on leaves,
herbaceous stems, or fruits.
2. Rusts:
These are diseases with rusty symptoms.
The rusts appear as relatively small pustules of spores, usually
through the host epidermis.
The pustules may be either dusty or compact, and red, brown, yellow,
or black in colour.
3. Smuts:
The word smut means a sooty or charcoal-like powder.
The affected parts of the plant show a black or purplish-black dusty mass.
These symptoms usually appear on floral organs, particularly the ovary but
they can also be found on stems, leaves and roots.
4. Scab:
The term scab refers to a roughened or crust-like lesions or to a freckled
(a small, pale brown spot on the skin, usually on the face, especially
of a person with pale skin ) appearance of the diseased organ.
In some diseases of this type the parasite appears at a certain stage, in
others it is never seen.
5. Sclerotia:
A sclerotium is a compact, often hard, mass of dormant fungus
mycelium.
Sclerotia is most often black, or they may be buff or dark
brown or purplish in colour. E.G. Ergot of grasses.

6. Blotch:
This symptom consists of a superficial growth giving the fruit a
blotched appearance as in sooty blotch and fly speck disease
of apple fruits.

7. Tar spots:
These are somewhat raised, black coated fungus bodies with
the appearance of a flattened out drop of tar on leaves.
8. Exudations:
In several bacterial diseases, masses of bacteria ooze
out to surface of the affected organ where they may
be seen as drops or as thin smear over the surface.

9. Chlorosis:
Development of yellow colour as a result of low
temperature, nutrient deficiency, excess of lime or
alkali, lack of iron, disturbances by fungal and
bacterial diseases, viral infection etc. is known as
chlorosis.
When yellowing is localized, it is known as chlorotic
spots.
10. Overgrowths or hypertrophy:
 This is the abnormal increase in size of plant organs or the entire plant as a result of stimulation of the host tissues.
 This may be brought about either or both of the two processes, hyperplasia and hypertrophy.
 Hyperplasia is the abnormal increase in the size of a plant organ due to increase in number of cells of which the
organ is composed.
 In hypertrophy, the increased size of the organ is due to increase in size of the cells.
A) galls: these are malformations of more or less globose, elongated, or irregular shape. They may be fleshy or woody.
Small galls are called warts, tubercles, etc. While larger ones are called knots. E.G. Crown gall, club root, root knot, etc.
B) curl: leaves are arched, puckered, twisted, curled, and distorted due to growth in tissues in localized area of the leaf.
Examples are peach leaf curl, papaya leaf curl, etc.
C) witches broom: numerous slender branches arise from a limited region in rather close clusters appearing like a broom.
D) hairy root: numerous fine fibrous roots are produced which are abnormal.
11. Atrophy or hypoplasia or dwarfing: this is a disease symptom in which the plants
remain stunted or dwarf because of growth inhibition (retardation). It is possible that
hypertrophy and atrophy both can occur in the same organ.
12. Necrosis: the term necrosis is used to indicate the condition in which the death of cells,
tissues and organs has occurred as a result of infection. The following are the different
necrotic symptoms:
A) Spots
B) streaks or stripes
C) Canker
D) Blight
E) Damping-off
F) Scald or Scorch
G) Rots
A) Spots:
 The death of cells or tissues (necrosis) occur in definitely limited areas.
 The shape of the lesions(necrotic spots) may be round, angular, or irregular.
 The dead areas are often surrounded by a purple, red, yellow or brown margin.
 Fruiting bodies may also develop in the dead areas.
 Leaf necrosis may lead to a dead leaf tissue falling away, causing a shothole
effect.

B) Streaks or stripes:
 They are prominent symptoms consisting of an elongated but relatively narrow
lesions.
 These streaks or stripes are usually some shade of brown colour.
C) Canker:
 A canker is a dead area in the bark or cortex of the stem, especially woody plants.
 They are usually rather large with well defined margins.
 The surface may be smooth or rough and usually somewhat sunken.
 In some cases only the superficial layers of cells are affected while in others all the tissues except the fibers
are destroyed.
 In many cases the dead bark splits and finally peels away leaving the wood naked.
D) Blight:
 This term means a burnt appearance.
 Extensive death of tissues associated with browning of leaves and flowers is known as blight.
 It also refers to a sudden death of a plant or its conspicuous parts, such as leaves, blossoms, or twigs.
 The dead organ usually turns brown or black and may soon disintegrate.
 Early and late blights of potato are good examples.
E) Damping-off:
 It is a condition in which the stem is attacked near the soil surface.
 The affected portion becomes constricted and weak, incapable of bearing the load of the upper
portion.
 As a result seedlings topple down and die. Damping-off of vegetable and ornamental seedlings are
common examples.

F) Scald or Scorch:
 Areas in the succulent organs of plants die and turn brown due to effect of high temperature such as
in sun scald of apple.
G) Rots:
The affected tissues die, decompose to greater extent, and turn brown.
In most cases this condition is brought about by fungi and bacteria which dissolve the cell walls
more or less completely by means of enzymes.
According to the plant organ attacked the rot may be called root rot, leaf or stem rot, bud rot,
and fruit rot.
Depending upon the type of dissolution brought about by the pathogen the rots may be
grouped as soft rot, wet rot, or dry rot.
13.Wilts:
 The leaves and other green or succulent parts lose their turgidity, become flaccid and droop.
 This effect is usually seen first in some of the leaves.
 Later the young growing tip or the whole plant may suddenly or gradually dry up.
 Wilting may be the result of an injury to the root system, to the partial plugging of water conducting vessels or
to toxic substances secreted by the pathogen and carried to delicate cells with water.
14. Die-back:
• Such diseases are characterized by dying of plant organs, especially stem or branches from the tip
backwards.

15. Gummosis:
• Excessive gum formation in certain trees affected by fungi
 DISEASE MANAGEMENT
• Use healthy, clean or disease-free planting materials
• Grow resistant varieties
• Provide better care and management
• Follow crop rotation
• Maintain proper field sanitation
• Adjust sowing and planting dates
• Rogue out diseased plants
• Follow plant quarantine regulations
• Use chemicals if necessary
ANY QUESTION?
THANKS