About Book

Plant diseases cause major economic losses for farmers worldwide. Control of plant diseases is crucial to the reliable production of food, and it provides significant problems in agricultural use of land, water, fuel and other inputs. Plants in both natural and cultivated populations carry inherent disease resistance. 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, and the methods of managing or controlling plant disease. It also involves the study of pathogen identification, disease etiology, disease cycles, economic impact, plant disease epidemiology, plant disease resistance and etc. This book provides extensive details about the vast topic of plant pathology. It deals with plant pathogens, photosynthesis modulation, biological control, plant defence responses, autophagy, quorum sensing and plant metabolites. This book is a valuable compilation of various topics, ranging from the most basic to the most complex ones. Different approaches, evaluations, methodologies and advanced studies have been included in it. For those who have an interest in plant pathology, this book will prove to be a valuable source of knowledge.

Preface............................................................................................................v

Chapter 1 Plant Metabolites in Plant Defense Against Pathogens ..................1

Abstract ..................................................................................................1

1. Introduction............................................................................................2

2. Pesticides in the control of phytopathogens ..................................3

3. Secondary metabolites of medicinal plants as biological control

of phytopathogens ...............................................................................4

4. Conclusions .........................................................................................15

Chapter 2 Quorum Sensing in Gram-Negative Plant Pathogenic Bacteria....27

Abstract ................................................................................................27

1. Introduction ........................................................................................28

2. Overview of QS in the top 10 plant pathogenic bacteria .........28

3. Progress in understanding interkingdom QS ...................................41

4. Conclusions .........................................................................................42

Chapter 3 Plant Pathogens.........................................................................................56

Abstract.................................................................................................56

1. Introduction ........................................................................................56

2. Basic procedures in the diagnosis of plant diseases ..................57

3. Noninfectious diseases ......................................................................60

4. Parasitism and pathogenicity ..........................................................60

5. Host range of pathogens...................................................................61

6. Development of disease in plant ....................................................61

Chapter 4 Autophagy in Plant Pathogenic Fungi.................................................68

Abstract.................................................................................................68

1. Introduction of plant pathogenic fungi ........................................68

2. Autophagy: functional roles in eukaryotes ..................................71

3. Macroautophagy-related genes studied in plant pathogenic

fungi.......................................................................................................74

4. Selective autophagy in plant pathogenic fungi ...........................79

5. Conclusions .........................................................................................83

Chapter 5 Signalling Crosstalk of Plant Defence Responses to Xyleminvading

Pathogens..................................................................................93

Abstract.................................................................................................93

1. Introduction..........................................................................................94

2. Plant immune signalling initiation..................................................95

3. Plant defence responses to xylem-invading pathogens.............106

Chapter 6 Biological Control of Root Pathogens by Plant - Growth Promoting

Bacillus spp..............................................................................................129

1. Introduction........................................................................................129

2. Overview of Bacillus.........................................................................130

3. Conclusions........................................................................................145

Chapter 7 An Overview of Plant Photosynthesis Modulation by Pathogen

Attacks.......................................................................................................156

1. Introduction........................................................................................156

2. Photosynthesis and pathogen.........................................................157

3. Plant reactions to pathogen attack................................................166

4. New insights from the genomics and proteomics era..............169

5. Conclusion..........................................................................................175

6. Acknowledgments.............................................................................175

Chapter 8 Plant Extracts from Mexican Native Species: An Alternative for

Control of Plant Pathogens..................................................................187

1. Introduction........................................................................................187

2. Control of plant pathogens using plant extracts........................188

3. Conclusion..........................................................................................203

4. Acknowledgment..............................................................................203

Citation......................................................................................................209

Index...........................................................................................................211

About Author

Jina Lindhagen obtained her Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Public State University, Nevada. She serves as an Associate Lecturer at Community College, Ontario. Some of her works include researching and writing scientific papers regarding fungi, diseases of agricultural crops, and post-harvest techniques. She has won an “Excellence in Graduate Education” award for her outstanding contribution towards the researcher community especially in the undergraduate programs. Lindhagen has authored and edited more than 50 articles, research papers and book chapters in the field of plant pathology and pest control techniques.