Plant Pathology: A Story About Biology

Abstract

Disease is a universal feature of life for multicellular organisms, and the study of disease has contributed to the establishment of key concepts in the biological sciences. This implies strong connections between plant pathology and basic biology, something that could perhaps be made more apparent to undergraduate students interested in the life sciences. To that end, we present an instructional narrative that begins with a simple question: Why are there diseases? Responses and follow-up questions can facilitate exploration of such topics as the evolution of parasitism, plant adaptations to parasitism, impacts of parasites on native plant communities, and ways in which human intervention can foster the emergence of aggressive plant pathogens. This approach may help to attract students who would not have found their way to plant pathology through traditional pathways. Packaging the narrative as a game may render it more interesting and accessible, particularly to a younger audience.

Fusarium circinatum and pitch canker of Pinus in Colombia

“…However, one genotype of the pathogen will not necessarily express similar levels of pathogenicity in different Pinus species or genotypes, which is also evident from our results (Table 3) and those reported previously (Hodge and Dvorak 2007). This because virulence is dependent on genetic factors determined by both the host and the pathogen (e.g., Gordon and Leveau 2010;Lambrechts et al 2006;Thompson and Burdon 1992). Furthermore, the climate change models suggested for P. patula and P. tecunumanii (Leibing et al 2009) did not take into account the pitch canker fungus and its inherent genetic diversity or its ability to change with time.…”

“…The results of the two-way ANOVA indicated that the response variable, lesion length, is strongly dependent on the genotypes of the fungus and the plant, as well as the interaction between these two factors (Table 3). Although these data indicate that typical genotype-by-genotype interactions underlie resistance of Pinus to the pitch canker fungus (Lambrechts et al 2006;Gordon and Leveau 2010), both of the F. circinatum isolates produced significantly larger lesions on P. patula and P. tecunumanii (PTECCATA) than on the other P. tecunumanii (PTECCSUIZ) family and the two P. maximinoi families (Table 4). …”

Population structure and temporal maintenance of the multihost fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea: causes and implications for disease management

“…Botrytis cinerea (teleomorph Botryotinia fuckeliana) is a filamentous, heterothallic ascomycete fungus causing gray mould on more than 220 host plants, including highvalue crops, such as grapevine and tomato, and wild species, such as bramble (Elad et al, 2004). This fungal pathogen can also develop saprophytically, and it is widespread in the environment (Martinez et al, 2005;Gordon and Leveau, 2010). The pathogen spreads through asexual cycles in spring and summer, mostly dispersed by wind and human activities (Elmer and Michailides, 2004).…”

An Endohyphal Bacterium (Chitinophaga, Bacteroidetes) Alters Carbon Source Use by Fusarium keratoplasticum (F. solani Species Complex, Nectriaceae)

“…Given this life history, seed-fungus interactions at the soil-seed interface (i.e., those involving the seed coat) are of primary interest with regard to community assembly of fungi in seeds. Furthermore, similar to bud-break or wounding (Agrios, 1997; Schädel et al, 2009; Gordon and Leveau, 2010; Savatin et al, 2014), seed germination represents a key event during which nutrients that may attract potential symbionts are released into the environment. The potential for EHB to influence seed-fungus interactions during colonization of seeds by fungi at the soil-seed interface, and during key plant life-stage transitions such as seed germination, should be investigated further.…”