In plant pathology, plant diseases are the responses of plant cells and tissues to pathogenic microorganisms or environmental factors that determine an adverse change in the form, function, or integrity of the plant and may lead to partial or the death of the plant or its parts.
The types of cells and tissues that are affected determine the type of physiological function that will be initially disabled. For example, infection of the roots can cause them to rot, which in turn causes the plant to be unable to absorb water and nutrients from the soil. Infection of the xylem vessels, as occurs in many vascular wilts and in some cancers, interferes with the translocation of water and nutrients within the plant. Leaf infection, as with stains, blight, rust, mildews and mosaics, interferes with photosynthesis. Infection of flowers and fruits interferes with reproduction. Although most infected cells weaken or die, in some diseases, such as "crown gill", infected cells are induced to divide more rapidly (hyperplasia) or to enlarge (hypertrophy) and, therefore, to produce abnormal and amorphous tissues (tumors) or abnormal organs.
Some common plant diseases are as follows: Bibliography
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