Molecular Methods In Plant Disease Diagnostics

Using molecular methods for plant disease diagnosis provides diagnosticians with a number of advantages over more traditional methods. They can allow the identification of morphologically similar species, for example, or the detection of infection prior to symptom formation. Not only can molecular tools help by increasing the efficacy, accuracy and speed of diagnosis; their common technological basis provides further benefits, especially where resources are limited and traditional skills are hard to sustain. This book provides protocols for nucleic acid-based methods currently applied to plant pathogen detection and identification. It takes the practitioner through the full range of molecular diagnostic and detection methods and, as these generic techniques are appropriate for use on any target with minimal modification, also provides a useful resource for students of plant pathology and plant pathologists. Beginning with the background and future directions of the science, it then addresses DNA barcoding, microarrays, polymerase chain reactions (PCR), quality assurance and more, forming a complete reference on the subject.

Molecular diagnostic of plant diseases have helped by increasing the efficacy, accuracy or speed of diagnosis, while their common technological basis also reduces reliance on staff with very specialist skills. This book provides protocols for the majority of nucleic acid-based methods applied to plant pathogen detection and identification.

Plant diseases play an important role on our daily lives. Most of plant diseases are visible and are caused by biotic and/or abiotic factors. Symptoms are usually the results of a morphological change, alteration or damage to plant tissue and/or cells due to an interference of the plant’s metabolism. All basic structures of vascular plants are subject to attack by pathogens. The failure in accurate disease diagnosis and management may lead to huge losses in plant production and related commodities, which causes nutritional food scarcity. Typically, the appearance of a biotic symptom will indicate the relatively late stage of an infection and/or colonization of a pathogen. Expert detection, accurate diagnosis, and timely management play a significant role in keeping plants free from pathogens. In this book expert scholars share their research knowledge and key literature which are vital toward the diagnosis of plant diseases across the globe, addressing traditional plant pathology techniques, as well as advanced molecular diagnostic approach.

This work provides information on the detection, identification, and differentiation of all microbial plant pathogens - presenting modern protocols for rapid diagnosis of diseases based on biological, physical, chemical and molecular properties. It contains methods for the selection of disease-free seeds and vegetatively propagated planting materials and quarantine techniques for screening newly introduced plant materials.

This book is part of the Plant Pathology in the 21st Century Series, started in the occasion of the IX International Congress of Plant Pathology, Torino, 2008. In conjuction with the Xth International Congress of Plant Pathology, held in Beijing in August 2013. Although deriving from a Congress, the book will not have the format of traditional Proceedings, but will be organized as a resource book. It will be based on invited lectures presented at the Congress as well as by other chapters selected by the editors among offered papers. This book will cover a topic very important in the field of plant pathology, dealing with detection and diagnostics. This field of research is continuously moving forwards, due to innovation in techniques. The application of new detection and diagnostic technologies are relevant to many applied fields in agriculture. The different chapters will provide a very complete figure of the topic, from general and basic aspects to practical aspects.

The present book “Detection and Diagnosis of Plant Diseases” deals with actual practical trends in modern Plant Pathology. It furnishes protocol on recent advances in bio-chemicals, biotechnological methods and aims to cover many important aspects such as Plant Pathology, Microbiology, Agricultural Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular biology. This book is designed to need the practical requirement of graduate and post-graduate students studying Plant Pathology, Microbiology, Biotechnology and Biochemistry courses by providing a readymade solution to the most of common experiments prescribed by any Indian University. Beside the latest technological development given in the book can be of interest to researchers and scientists. Most attention is given to the principal and theory behind various protocols that are expanding in details to aid understanding. It contains fifteen chapters emphasized on good laboratory practices in introduction to Plant Pathology as well as Microbiological equipments, isolation of plant pathogens from plants samples and soil samples, evaluation of fungicide toxicity by various methods, plant diseases diagnosis; field and laboratory diagnosis and important serological and molecular techniques, important biochemical methods, preparation of buffer solutions and at last is various important information related to agriculture graduate and post graduate students.

Molecular Methods in Plant Pathology covers methods in phytopathology at the molecular level, including PCR techniques, electron microscopy, tissue culturing, and the cloning of disease-resistant genes. Phytopathologists, botanists, horticulturists, and anyone working in agriculture will find this a useful reference on biophysical, biochemical, biomolecular, and biotechnological methods.

The main theme of the book is sustainable disease management in a European context. Some of the questions addressed are: How does society benefit from plant pathology research? How can new molecular approaches solve relevant problems in disease management? What other fields can we exploit in plant pathology research? What challenges are associated with free trade across the new borders? How can we contribute to solving problems of developing countries? How does plant pathology contribute to food quality and safety? How does globalization/internationalization affect teaching and extension in plant pathology?