PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Plant Diseases”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Contemporary global movement of emerging plant diseases.

Plant diseases are a significant constraint to agricultural productivity. Exotic plant diseases pose a continued threat to profitable agriculture in the United States. The extent of this threat has increased dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s due to the expansion of international trade in agricultural products and frequent movement of massive volume of people and goods across national boundaries. Introduction of new diseases has not only caused farm losses, but has also diminished export revenue since phytosanitary issues are linked to international commerce. Plant pathogens and their vectors have also moved across national boundaries, sometimes naturally and at other times influenced by the recent changes in trade practices. Sorghum ergot, Karnal bunt of wheat, potato late blight, and citrus tristeza are some of the most recent examples of enhanced importance of diseases due to the introduction of plant pathogens or vectors.

Agriculture↗

Multimodal Deep Learning and Foundation Models for Early Detection and Forecasting of Plant Diseases.

Plant diseases destroy 20-40% of global food production annually, posing a critical threat to food security for a projected population of 9.7 billion by 2050. Conventional diagnostic approaches relying on expert visual assessment are slow, costly, and unsuitable for modern agricultural scales. While deep convolutional neural networks demonstrated early promise, single-modality, image-centric systems consistently fail under real-world field conditions characterized by variable lighting, co-occurring infections, and cultivar diversity. This review synthesizes a decade of progress across four interconnected frontiers: the evolution of deep learning architectures for plant disease detection; the adaptation of foundation models including CLIP, SAM, and DINOv2 to agricultural contexts; the development of multimodal fusion frameworks integrating imagery, environmental, genomic, and hyperspectral data; and the transition from static disease diagnosis to descriptive comparison of reported metrics, which suggested that multimodal approaches frequently reported improved diagnostic performance relative to corresponding single-modality baselines, although direct cross-study comparison was limited by methodological heterogeneity. A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines identifies eligible comparative studies. Descriptive comparison of reported performance metrics across these studies indicated that multimodal approaches generally achieved higher accuracy and sensitivity than single-modality models, particularly for pre-symptomatic disease detection. Eight critical research gaps are identified, including the absence of a unified agricultural foundation model and limited climate-aware forecasting under non-stationary climate projections. A structured research agenda is proposed to accelerate translation from laboratory performance to globally equitable, field-deployable crop protection systems.

convolutional neural networks↗

A bacterial virulence protein suppresses host innate immunity to cause plant disease.

Plants have evolved a powerful immune system to defend against infection by most microbial organisms. However, successful pathogens, such as Pseudomonas syringae, have developed countermeasures and inject virulence proteins into the host plant cell to suppress immunity and cause devastating diseases. Despite intensive research efforts, the molecular targets of bacterial virulence proteins that are important for plant disease development have remained obscure. Here, we show that a conserved P. syringae virulence protein, HopM1, targets an immunity-associated protein, AtMIN7, in Arabidopsis thaliana. HopM1 mediates the destruction of AtMIN7 via the host proteasome. Our results illustrate a strategy by which a bacterial pathogen exploits the host proteasome to subvert host immunity and causes infection in plants.

ADP-Ribosylation Factors↗

[Effect of plant diseases and plant pests on phytohygienic safety of compost].

During the last years the production of compost made from separately collected organic waste heavily increased (about 7.5 mio tons) and is supposed to continue increasing. For the use of those products in crop cultivation high demands on the quality and especially on the freedom from phytopathogenic organisms has to be met. Regarding investigations published up to now on the ability of plant seeds and phytopathogenic organisms to survive the decomposition process, it can be deduced that composting under optimal conditions usually may ensure substantial freedom from phytopathogenic organisms. There remains the need for further research as to the stability of heat-resistant viruses, of viruses with fungal vectors and of quarantine organisms. Data on the effect of anaerobic digestion to phytopathogens are also lacking. A monitoring program to check composts produced on an industrial scale for freedom from phytopathogenic organisms is proposed. Some provisions of the German 'Bioabfallverordnung' dealing with phytosanitary aspects are critically discussed.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗

Plant-microbe interactions and the new biotechnological methods of plant disease control.

Plants constitute an excellent ecosystem for microorganisms. The environmental conditions offered differ considerably between the highly variable aerial plant part and the more stable root system. Microbes interact with plant tissues and cells with different degrees of dependence. The most interesting from the microbial ecology point of view, however, are specific interactions developed by plant-beneficial (either non-symbiotic or symbiotic) and pathogenic microorganisms. Plants, like humans and other animals, also become sick, but they have evolved a sophisticated defense response against microbes, based on a combination of constitutive and inducible responses which can be localized or spread throughout plant organs and tissues. The response is mediated by several messenger molecules that activate pathogen-responsive genes coding for enzymes or antimicrobial compounds, and produces less sophisticated and specific compounds than immunoglobulins in animals. However, the response specifically detects intracellularly a type of protein of the pathogen based on a gene-for-gene interaction recognition system, triggering a biochemical attack and programmed cell death. Several implications for the management of plant diseases are derived from knowledge of the basis of the specificity of plant-bacteria interactions. New biotechnological products are currently being developed based on stimulation of the plant defense response, and on the use of plant-beneficial bacteria for biological control of plant diseases (biopesticides) and for plant growth promotion (biofertilizers).

Bacteria↗

Natural products and plant disease resistance.

Plants elaborate a vast array of natural products, many of which have evolved to confer selective advantage against microbial attack. Recent advances in molecular technology, aided by the enormous power of large-scale genomics initiatives, are leading to a more complete understanding of the enzymatic machinery that underlies the often complex pathways of plant natural product biosynthesis. Meanwhile, genetic and reverse genetic approaches are providing evidence for the importance of natural products in host defence. Metabolic engineering of natural product pathways is now a feasible strategy for enhancement of plant disease resistance.

Biological Products↗

Molecular genetics of plant disease resistance.

Plant breeders have used disease resistance genes (R genes) to control plant disease since the turn of the century. Molecular cloning of R genes that enable plants to resist a diverse range of pathogens has revealed that the proteins encoded by these genes have several features in common. These findings suggest that plants may have evolved common signal transduction mechanisms for the expression of resistance to a wide range of unrelated pathogens. Characterization of the molecular signals involved in pathogen recognition and of the molecular events that specify the expression of resistance may lead to novel strategies for plant disease control.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Interplay of signaling pathways in plant disease resistance.

Plants are under constant threat of infection by pathogens armed with a diverse array of effector molecules to colonize their host. Plants have, in turn, evolved sophisticated detection and response systems that decipher pathogen signals and induce appropriate defenses. Genetic analysis of plant mutants impaired in mounting a resistance response to invading pathogens has uncovered a number of distinct, but interconnecting, signaling networks that are under both positive and negative control. These pathways operate, at least partly, through the action of small signaling molecules such as salicylate, jasmonate and ethylene. The interplay of signals probably allows the plant to fine-tune defense responses in both local and systemic tissue.

Acetates↗

Agrobacterium in plant disease, biological disease control and plant genetic engineering.

Plant pathogenic strains of Agrobacterium cause crown gall and hairy-root diseases. The abnormal cell proliferation of diseased tissues results from elevated plant hormonal levels within them. These levels are consequent upon the transfer of DNA portions (T-DNA) from Agrobacterium plasmids to host nuclei where they are integrated and where genes for hormone synthesis, borne on the T-DNA, are expressed in transformed host cells. This process has been exploited in plant genetic engineering by producing Agrobacterium mutants with deleterious genes removed from T-DNA, and with selected beneficial genes inserted in their place. Such mutants are able to infect and transform plants so that the beneficial genes are transferred to, and expressed in, the host plants, endowing them with desirable characteristics, including insect and disease resistance and herbicide tolerance. Biological control of Agrobacterium disease has been achieved using non-pathogenic Agrobacterium strains which produce an antibiotic specifically inhibitory to Agrobacterium pathogens. Use of one of these biocontrol strains is the first instance of a genetically engineered micro-organism being released commercially.

DNA Mutational Analysis↗

A retrospective of an unconventionally trained plant pathologist: plant diseases to molecular plant pathology.

Plant pathology evolved from its mycology-oriented origins into a science dealing with biochemical mechanisms of diseases, along with enhanced crop production through disease control. This retrospective describes first my personal experience from my introduction to plant pathology, to the establishment of the concept of accessibility as a model pertaining to genetically defined basic compatibility induced by pathogens. I then refer to the development of molecular plant pathology from physiological and biochemical plant pathology fostered by the growth in recombinant technology in the second half of the past century. This progress was best reflected by the U.S.-Japan Seminar Series held at 4-5-year intervals from 1966 to 2003 and documented by publications in major journals of our discipline. These seminars emphasized that progress in science has always been supported by the invention of novel techniques and that knowledge integrated from modern genomics and subsequent proteomics should contribute to the progress of basic life sciences and, more importantly, to the elaboration of rational measures for disease control.

History, 20th Century↗

Genetic analysis of plant disease resistance pathways.

Plant disease resistance (R) genes are introduced into high yielding crop varieties to improve resistance to agronomically important pathogens. The R gene-encoded proteins are recognitionally specific, interacting directly or indirectly with corresponding pathogen avirulence (avr) determinants, and are therefore under strong diversifying selection pressure to evolve new recognition capabilities. Genetic analyses in different plant species have also revealed more broadly recruited resistance signalling genes that provide further targets for manipulation in crop improvement strategies. Understanding the processes that regulate both plant-pathogen recognition and the induction of appropriate defences should provide fresh perspectives in combating plant disease. Many recent studies have utilized the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, mutational screens have identified genes that are required for R gene function and for restriction of pathogen growth in compatible plant-pathogen interactions. Genetic analyses of these plant mutants suggest that whilst signalling pathways are conditioned by particular R protein structural types they are also influenced by pathogen lifestyle. Two Arabidopsis defence signalling genes, EDS1 and PAD4, are required for the accumulation of salicylic acid, a phenolic molecule required for systemic immunity. The cloning, molecular and biochemical characterization of these components suggests processes that may be important in their disease resistance signalling roles.

Arabidopsis↗

Perception and response in plant disease resistance.

Plants express sophisticated mechanisms for recognizing pathogens. The functionally defined repertoire of non-self perception is large; the number and nature of subsequent molecular events required for resistance is unknown. Recent cloning of disease resistance genes, and genetic identification of loci required for their function, allows dissection of the structure, evolution, and deployment within populations of pathogen-perception mechanisms. Roles for reactive oxygen species and programmed cell death in resistance have also been suggested recently. New results document a role for salicylic acid as a lynchpin in the establishment and maintenance of the 'effector functions' of disease resistance, and strategies for engineered plant protection are moving closer to reality.

Apoptosis↗

A novel gene family in moss (Physcomitrella patens) shows sequence homology and a phylogenetic relationship with the TIR-NBS class of plant disease resistance genes.

Plant disease resistance (R) genes encode proteins in which several motifs of the nucleotide-binding region (NBS) are highly conserved. Using degenerate primers designed according to the kinase 1 (P-loop) and hydrophobic (HD) motifs of the R gene NBS domains, homologous sequences were cloned from moss (Physcomitrella patens; phylum Bryophyta) representing an ancient nonvascular plant. A novel gene family (PpC) with at least eight homologous members was found. Expression of five members was detected. The level of expression was dependent on the developmental stage of moss, being higher in the gametophyte tissue than in the protonema tissue. The PpCs contained the conserved motifs characteristic of the NBS regions of R genes, and a kinase domain was found upstream from the NBS region. Phylogenetic analysis using the deduced NBS amino acid sequences of the PpCs and the plant genes available in databanks indicated that the PpCs show the closest relationship with the TIR-NBS class of R genes. No significant similarity to plant genes other than R genes was observed. These findings shed novel light on the evolutionary history of the R gene families, suggesting that the NBS region characteristic of the TIR-NBS class of R-like genes evolved prior to the evolutionary differentiation of vascular and nonvascular plants.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

RPS2 of Arabidopsis thaliana: a leucine-rich repeat class of plant disease resistance genes.

Plant disease resistance genes function is highly specific pathogen recognition pathways. PRS2 is a resistance gene of Arabidopsis thaliana that confers resistance against Pseudomonas syringae bacteria that express avirulence gene avrRpt2. RPS2 was isolated by the use of a positional cloning strategy. The derived amino acid sequence of RPS2 contains leucine-rich repeat, membrane-spanning, leucine zipper, and P loop domains. The function of the RPS2 gene product in defense signal transduction is postulated to involve nucleotide triphosphate binding and protein-protein interactions and may also involve the reception of an elicitor produced by the avirulent pathogen.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

How to estimate the efficacy of periodic control of an infectious plant disease.

Certain infectious plant diseases are controlled by inspection and subsequent hand removal of diseased parts. In this paper we give two sets of criteria from which one can conclude whether this control effort is adequate or not. These criteria do not require knowledge of the infection- or detection rate of the disease but only use the structure of the contact matrix. Computer experiments give a feeling of how many inspections are needed in order to draw a conclusion.

Epidemiologic Methods↗

Plastoquinone: possible involvement in plant disease resistance.

The plant Solanum nigrum treated with the pathogen Phytophthora infestans-derived elicitor responded by elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, lipid peroxidation and lipoxygenase (EC 1.13.11.12) activity in comparison with control plants indicating that oxidative stress took place. We demonstrate that these events are accompanied by a significant increase in plastoquinone (PQ) level. It is postulated that PQ may be associated with mechanisms maintaining a tightly controlled balance between the accumulation of ROS and antioxidant activity that determines the full expression of effective defence.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Evolutionary ecology of plant diseases in natural ecosystems.

Plant pathogens cause mortality and reduce fecundity of individual plants, drive host population dynamics, and affect the structure and composition of natural plant communities. Pathogens are responsible for both numerical changes in host populations and evolutionary changes through selection for resistant genotypes. Linking such ecological and evolutionary dynamics has been the focus of a growing body of literature on the effects of plant diseases in natural ecosystems. A guiding principle is the importance of understanding the spatial and temporal scales at which plants and pathogens interact. This review summarizes the effects of diseases on populations of wild plants, focusing in particular on the mediation of plant competition and succession, the maintenance of plant species diversity, as well as the process of rapid evolutionary changes in host-pathogen symbioses.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Insect infestations, incidence of viral plant diseases, and yield of winter wheat in relation to planting date in the northern Great Plains.

Planting date effects on arthropod infestation and viral plant disease are undocumented for winter wheat, Triticum aestivum L., in South Dakota and the northern Great Plains. Winter wheat was planted over three dates (early, middle, and late; generally from late August to late September) to determine the effect on abundance of insect pests, incidence of plant damage, incidence of viral plant disease, and grain yield. The study was conducted simultaneously at two sites in South Dakota over three consecutive cropping seasons for a total of six site yr. Cereal aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) were abundant in three site yr. Rhopalosiphum padi (L.), bird cherry-oat aphid, was the most abundant cereal aphid at the Brookings site, whereas Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), greenbug, predominated at Highmore. Aphid-days were greater in early versus late plantings. Aphid abundance in middle plantings depended on aphid species and site, but it usually did not differ from that in early plantings. Incidence of Barley yellow dwarf virus (family Luteoviridae, genus Luteovirus, BYDV) declined with later planting and was correlated with autumnal abundance of cereal aphids. Incidence of BYDV ranged from 24 to 81% among 1999 plantings and was < 8% in other years. Damage to seedling wheat by chewing insects varied for two site-years, with greater incidence in early and middle plantings. Wheat streak mosaic virus, spring infestations of cereal aphids, wheat stem maggot, and grasshoppers were insignificant. Yield at Brookings was negatively correlated with BYDV incidence but not cereal aphid abundance, whereas yield at Highmore was negatively correlated with aphid abundance but not BYDV incidence. Planting on 20 September or later reduced damage from chewing insects and reduced cereal aphid infestations and resulting BYDV incidence.

Animals↗