Plant pathogens are organisms that attack plants, causing tissue death, browning, and decreased fruiting. They can be viruses, bacteria, parasites, and more. They can cause serious damage in agriculture and threaten vulnerable ecosystems. Phytopathologists study plant pathogens and develop plans to manage them.
A plant pathogen is a pathogenic organism that attacks plants. Plant pathogens are of interest for a variety of reasons, ranging from concerns about fragile ecosystems to a desire to protect food supplies. There are numerous types of pathogens that can affect plants, including viruses, bacteria, protozoa, parasites, worms, and archaea. People who study plant pathogens are known as phytopathologists or plant pathologists.
Plant pathogens can attack in many different ways. Some colonize plant tissue, others settle on the plant surface, and others can reach specific areas such as roots, stems, and leaves. Pathogens commonly cause problems such as tissue death, browning, decreased fruiting, problems with flower setting, and so on. In extreme cases, they can kill the host plant.
Like the pathogens that attack humans, plant pathogens are very diverse. A plant pathogen may have evolved to attack a specific plant genus or species, or to infect most plants more widely. Some plant pathogens exploit specific biological processes that can occur within host species, while others are content to use plants as homes because they have valuable resources such as nutrients.
In agriculture, plant pathogens cause serious damage every year. Once a plant has been attacked by a plant pathogen, its products usually cannot be sold. The investment in the plant is rendered unnecessary by the pathogen, and usually involves great expense in eradicating the pathogens from the field and dealing with other fallout from the pest. In some cases, a field becomes so diseased that it must be left fallow for several years to recover before attempts are made to grow crops there again.
A plant pathogen can also be of concern when it is accidentally imported or deliberately introduced into a vulnerable ecosystem. Some island nations are particularly interested in this, as they have unique flora that could be decimated by a pathogen introduced from the mainland. Pathogens can also be a problem when they spread between districts; for example, a pathogen that attacks grapes and is limited to Europe can pose a serious threat if it reaches wineries in Australia, which may not be prepared to handle the pathogen.
Ecologists are interested in studying the pathogens that can infect plants, observing their effects on various species and ecosystems. When plants suffer die-offs and other problems, often the cause is a pathogen and a pathologist may be called in to find out which pathogen is responsible and develop a plan to manage it.
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