Plant Defence

Plants are sources of nourishment for thousands of fungi, bacteria, invertebrates, vertebrates, and other plants. Plants possess a truly remarkable diversity of mechanisms to fend off attackers and recent research has shown just how complex and sophisticated these defense mechanisms can be. Plant Defense provides comprehensive coverage of the range of different organisms that plants need to fend off, describes how plants coordinate their defenses against multiple attacks, explains the evolution of defense in plants, and how plant defences are exploited in crop protection strategies. Plant Defense: Covers plants’ defenses against pathogens, pests, and parasitic plants: together in one book Brings together succinct, cutting edge information in a user-friendly format Gives an understanding of how plants ward off attacks from multiple enemies Is written by Dale Walters, an internationally known and respected researcher and teacher in crop protection, who distils his wealth of knowledge in a novel and exciting way Is an essential purchase for all those involved in plant protection around the globe Plant Defense is primarily designed for use by upper undergraduates and post graduates studying crop protection, agricultural sciences, applied entomology, plant pathology, and plant sciences. Biological and agricultural research scientists in the agrochemical and crop protection industries, and in academia, will find much of great use in this excellent new book. Libraries in all universities and research establishments where agricultural and biological sciences are studied and taught should have multiple copies of this very valuable book on their shelves.

This book summarizes our current knowledge on belowground defence strategies in plants by world-class scientists actively working in the area. The volume includes chapters covering belowground defence to main soil pathogens such as Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, Verticillium, Phytophthora, Pythium and Plasmodiophora, as well as to migratory and sedentary plant parasitic nematodes. In addition, the role of root exudates in belowground plant defence will be highlighted, as well as the crucial roles of pathogen effectors in overcoming root defences. Finally, accumulating evidence on how plants can differentiate beneficial soil microbes from the pathogenic ones will be covered as well. Better understanding of belowground defences can lead to the development of environmentally friendly plant protection strategies effective against soil-borne pathogens which cause substantial damage on many crop plants all over the world. The book will be a useful reference for plant pathologists, agronomists, plant molecular biologists as well as students working on these and related areas.

To meet the challenge of feeding ever increasing human population, efficient, economical and environment friendly disease control methods are required. Pests are responsible for heavy crop losses and reduced food supplies, poorer quality of agricultural products, economic hardship for growers and processor. Generally, chemical control methods are neither always economical nor are they effective and may have associated unwanted health, safety and environmental risks. Biological control involves use of beneficial microorganism to control plant pathogens and diseases they cause and offers an environmental friendly approach to the effective management of plant diseases. This book provides a comprehensive account of interaction of host and its pathogens, induced host resistance, development of biological control agents for practical applications, the underlying mechanism and signal transduction. The book is useful to all those working in academia or industry related to crop protection.

The Study of Plants in a Whole New Light “Matt Candeias succeeds in evoking the wonder of plants with wit and wisdom.” ―James T. Costa, PhD, executive director, Highlands Biological Station and author of Darwin's Backyard #1 New Release in Nature & Ecology, Plants, Botany, Horticulture, Trees, Biological Sciences, and Nature Writing & Essays In his debut book, internationally-recognized blogger and podcaster Matt Candeias celebrates the nature of plants and the extraordinary world of plant organisms. A botanist’s defense. Since his early days of plant restoration, this amateur plant scientist has been enchanted with flora and the greater environmental ecology of the planet. Now, he looks at the study of plants through the lens of his ever-growing houseplant collection. Using gardening, houseplants, and examples of plants around you, In Defense of Plants changes your relationship with the world from the comfort of your windowsill. The ruthless, horny, and wonderful nature of plants. Understand how plants evolve and live on Earth with a never-before-seen look into their daily drama. Inside, Candeias explores the incredible ways plants live, fight, have sex, and conquer new territory. Whether a blossoming botanist or a professional plant scientist, In Defense of Plants is for anyone who sees plants as more than just static backdrops to more charismatic life forms. In this easily accessible introduction to the incredible world of plants, you’ll find: • Fantastic botanical histories and plant symbolism • Passionate stories of flora diversity and scientific names of plant organisms • Personal tales of plantsman discovery through the study of plants If you enjoyed books like The Botany of Desire, What a Plant Knows, or The Soul of an Octopus, then you’ll love In Defense of Plants.

Research on the mechanisms of plant defense responses to stress and pathogen attack has attracted much attention in recent years. This increasing interest stems from the fact that the tools of molecular biology now enable us to study the molecular basis of old biological concepts such as host-pathogen recognition (and particularly the gene for-gene relationship), hypersensitive cell death and systemic acquired resistance. Our knowledge about avirulence and resistance genes, elicitors, signal transduction and genes involved in plant defense is rapidly expanding. Moreover we are just beginning to test in planta the potential of these results for biotechnological applications, aimed at improving plant resistance to diseases. The 2nd Conference of the European Foundation for Plant Pathology, hosted by the "Societe Fran~aise de Phytopathologie", was devoted to "Mechanisms of plant defense responses" and was held in Strasbourg, France. It brought together over 350 scientists from universities, research institutes and private sectors of 24 countries. Major advances in the areas under study have been reviewed in plenary lectures and are developed in the main articles of this book. Over 160 high-quality posters were presented and are summarized in short articles. Data from outstanding posters, which were discussed after a short oral presentation, are found in extended articles. As a whole the book presents a collection of papers arranged in six sections and reflecting the present day state-of-the-art of research in the field of plant defense reactions.

Insects, pests and weeds are responsible for substantial loss of crops and reduced food supplies, poorer quality of agricultural products, economic hardship for growers and processor. Generally, chemical control methods are neither always economical nor are they effective and may have associated unwanted health, safety and environmental risks. Biological control involves use of beneficial biological agents to control pests and offers an environmental friendly approach to the effective management of plant diseases and weeds. The chapters are written by well recognized group leaders in the field. This book provides a comprehensive account of interaction of host and pests, and development of biological control agents for practical applications in crops management utilizing inherent defence mechanism, induced stimulation and biological control agents. The contents are divided into the following sections: General biology of plant defence, Use of natural compounds for biological control, Use of biological agents, Mechanism of action and Commercial aspects. The book will be useful for academicians, researcher and industries involved in study and manufacturing these products.

Plant diseases worldwide are responsible for billions of dollarsworth of crop losses every year. With less agrochemicals being usedand less new fungicides coming on the market due to environmentalconcerns, more effort is now being put into the use of geneticpotential of plants for pathogen resistance and the development ofinduced or acquired resistance as an environmentally safe means ofdisease control. This comprehensive book examines in depth the development andexploitation of induced resistance. Chapters review currentknowledge of the agents that can elicit induced resistance,genomics, signalling cascades, mechanisms of defence to pests andpathogens and molecular tools. Further chapters consider thetopical application of inducers for disease control, microbialinduction of pathogen resistance, transgenic approaches, pathogenpopulation biology, trade offs associated with induced resistanceand integration of induced resistance in crop protection. The bookconcludes with a consideration of socio-economic driversdetermining the use of induced resistance, and the future ofinduced resistance in crop protection.

To meet the challenge of feeding ever increasing human population, efficient, economical and environment friendly disease control methods are required. Pests are responsible for heavy crop losses and reduced food supplies, poorer quality of agricultural products, economic hardship for growers and processor. Generally, chemical control methods are neither always economical nor are they effective and may have associated unwanted health, safety and environmental risks. Biological control involves use of beneficial microorganism to control plant pathogens and diseases they cause and offers an environmental friendly approach to the effective management of plant diseases. This book provides a comprehensive account of interaction of host and its pathogens, induced host resistance, development of biological control agents for practical applications, the underlying mechanism and signal transduction. The book is useful to all those working in academia or industry related to crop protection.