This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of plant diseases, including pathogens, plant-pathogen interactions, their management, and future perspectives. Plant diseases limit potential crop production and are responsible for considerable losses in agriculture, horticulture and forestry. Our global food production systems are under increasing pressure from global trade, climate change and urbanization. If we could alleviate the losses due to plant diseases, we would be able to produce roughly 20% more food - enough to feed the predicted world population in 2050. Co-authored by a group of international teachers of plant pathology who have collaborated for many years, the book gives expert and seamless coverage. Plant Pathology and Plant Diseases: Addresses major advances in plant-pathogen interactions, classification of plant pathogens, and the methods of managing or controlling disease Is relevant for a global audience; it covers many examples of diseases with an impact worldwide but with an emphasis on disease of particular importance in a temperate context Features over 400 striking figures and colour photographs It is suitable for graduate students and advanced undergraduates studying plant pathology, biology, agriculture and horticulture.

Plant disease epidemiology is a dynamic science that forms an essential part of the study of plant pathology. This book brings together a team of 35 international experts. Each chapter deals with an essential component of the subject and allows the reader to fully understand how each exerts its influence on the progress of pathogen populations in plant populations over a defined time scale. This edition has new, revised and updated chapters.

Plant disease epidemics, caused by established and invasive pathogen species, continue to impact a world increasingly concerned with the quantity and quality of its primary food supply. The Study of Plant Disease Epidemics is a comprehensive manual that introduces readers to the essential principles and concepts of plant disease epidemiology.

It was a compliment to me to be asked to prepare the fourth edition of Westcott's Plant Disease Handbook, and the decision to accept the responsi bility for the fourth edition and now the fifth edition was not taken lightly. The task has been a formidable one. I have always had a great respect professionally for Dr. Cynthia Westcott. That respect has grown considerably with the completion of the two editions. I now fully realize the tremendous amount of effort expended by Dr. Westcott in developing the Handbook. A book such as this is never finished, since one is never sure that everything has been included that should be. I would quote and endorse the words of Dr. Westcott in her preface to the first edition: "It is easy enough to start a book on plant disease. It is impossible to finish it. " This revision of the Handbook retains the same general format contained in the previous editions. The chemicals and pesticides regulations have been updated; a few taxonomic changes have been made in the bacteria, fungi, and mistletoes; the changing picture in diseases caused by viruses and/or viruslike agents has been described. A few new host plants have been added, and many recently reported diseases as well as previously known diseases listed now on new hosts have been included. In addition, photographs have been replaced where possible, and the color photograph section has been retained.

This book incorporates several new developments since the publication of the first edition. Use this reference as a guide to the identification and control of tropical plant diseases. Includes special emphasis on molecular biology, genetic engineering, and integrated pest management. Includes new coverage of: Rice, Maize, Sorghum, Root Crops, Cassava, Sweet Potatoes, Legumes, Soybeans, Peanuts, Bananas, Coffee, Fruit and Nuts, Sugarcane, Vegetables, Cotton, Spices, Tobacco, among others.

This clearly written book is an ideal entry-level text for inquisitive college students who are majoring in a subject other than plant pathology, especially those in general education and core science classes. There is a student resources website organized around the book's topics that will help bring the stories of plant diseases to life through podcasts, exercises, and other teaching tools."--pub. desc.

Plant resistance to pathogens is one of the most important strategies of disease control. Knowledge of resistance mechanisms, and of how to exploit them, has made a significant contribution to agricultural productivity. However, the continuous evolution of new variants of pathogen, ana additional control problems posed by new crops and agricultural methods, creates a need for a corresponding increase in our understanding of resistance and ability to utilize it. The study of resistance mechanisms also has attractions from a purely academic point of view. First there is the breadth of the problem, which can be approached at the genetical, molecular, cellular, whole plant or population lev~ls. Often there is the possibility of productive exchange of ideas between different disciplines. Then there is the fact that despite recent advances, many of the mechanisms involved have still to be fully elucidated. Finally, and compared with workers in other areas of biology, the student of resistance is twice blessed in having as his subject the interaction of two or more organisms, with the intriguing problems of recognition, specificity and co-evolution which this raises.

Plant diseases play an important role on our daily lives. Most of plant diseases are visible and are caused by biotic and/or abiotic factors. Symptoms are usually the results of a morphological change, alteration or damage to plant tissue and/or cells due to an interference of the plant’s metabolism. All basic structures of vascular plants are subject to attack by pathogens. The failure in accurate disease diagnosis and management may lead to huge losses in plant production and related commodities, which causes nutritional food scarcity. Typically, the appearance of a biotic symptom will indicate the relatively late stage of an infection and/or colonization of a pathogen. Expert detection, accurate diagnosis, and timely management play a significant role in keeping plants free from pathogens. In this book expert scholars share their research knowledge and key literature which are vital toward the diagnosis of plant diseases across the globe, addressing traditional plant pathology techniques, as well as advanced molecular diagnostic approach.

Silicon, considered to be the second most abundant mineral element in soil, plays an important role in the mineral nutrition of plants. A wide variety of monocot and dicot species have benefited from silicon nutrition, whether direct or indirect, when they are exposed to different types of abiotic and or biotic stresses. Besides the many agronomic and horticultural benefits gained by maintaining adequate levels of this element in the soil and also in the plant tissue, the most notable effect of silicon is the reduction in the intensities of a number of plant diseases caused by biotrophic, hemibiotrophic and necrotrophic plant pathogens in many crops of great economic importance. The aim of this book is to summarize our current understanding of the effects of silicon on plant diseases. The chapters address the dynamics of silicon in soils and plants; the history of silicon in the control of plant diseases; the use of silicon to control soil-borne, seed-borne and foliar diseases in monocots and dicots; the mechanisms involved in the host resistance against infection by plant pathogens mediated by silicon as well as the current knowledge at the omics level, and finally, highlights and prospects for using silicon in the future.