PLPA 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Root Rot, Sulfur Dioxide, Boron
4 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
A major concept in plant pathology is that diseases can be caused by both living and non-living agents. Although we spend most of our time focused on plant diseases caused by living pathogenic organisms, many plant diseases are caused by non-living factors. A plant disease can be de ned as any disturbance of a plant that interferes with its normal growth and development, economic value, or aesthetic quality . The phrase any disturbance is pretty broad, and does not place any restrictions on what can cause a plant disease. In fact, plant diseases can be divided into two major categories; biotic diseases, caused by pathogenic organisms, like fungi and bacteria, and abiotic diseases, caused by non-living factors or conditions. Biotic diseases are also known as infectious diseases, because a pathogen can reproduce on an infected plant and then move to another plant, spreading the disease.
