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## Meet the editor

Snježana Topolovec-Pintarić is an associate professor at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Plant Pathology. Her main research activities are in plant pathology, mycology, and plant protection. She has been involved in 7 projects with chemical industries on the evaluation of fungicidal efficacy and 2 US projects on biological control of weeds. Since 2005, she has investigated biological control of plant pathogenic

fungi with indigenous *Trichoderma* species as well as *Trichoderma* effects on plant growth. She was involved in 2 projects on the investigation possibilities of *Trichoderma* encapsulation. For six years she was in the Organization Committee for the annual national Symposium of Plant Protection and was the secretary of the Croatian Plant Protection Society and on the Governing Board. She contributed as lecturer and organizer in 2 workshops on seed pathology. She is trained as an instructional designer for e-learning and online courses. She likes to use her artistic skills in educational purposes by creating videos and art exhibitions to educate people about phytopathogenic fungi.

Contents

**Section 1**

**Preface III**

Novel Approaches to Plant Disease **1**

**Chapter 1 3**

**Chapter 2 19**

**Chapter 3 31**

**Chapter 4 49**

**Chapter 5 69**

**Chapter 6 83**

Host-Pathogen Coevolution **95**

**Chapter 7 97**

Asymptomatic Phytoplasma Reveal a Novel and Troublesome Infection

*by Philip Donkersley, Farley W.S. Silva, Murilo S. Alves,* 

*Claudine M. Carvalho, Abdullah M. Al-Sadi and Simon L. Elliot*

Downy Mildew of Basil: A New Destructive Disease Worldwide

Nanophytovirology: An Emerging Field for Disease Management

Aspects in *Tobamovirus* Management in Intensive Agriculture

Impact of Climate Change on Plant Diseases and IPM Strategies

Plant Metabolites in Plant Defense Against Pathogens *by Xóchitl S. Ramírez-Gómez, Sandra N. Jiménez-García, Vicente Beltrán Campos and Ma. Lourdes García Campos*

Sisal Bole Rot: An Important but Neglected Disease *by Valter Cruz-Magalhães, Jackeline Pereira Andrade, Yasmim Freitas Figueiredo, Phellippe Arthur Santos Marbach* 

*by Snježana Topolovec-Pintarić and Katarina Martinko*

*by Avinash Marwal and R.K. Gaur*

*and Jorge Teodoro de Souza*

*by Sahar Abdou Zayan*

**Section 2**

*by Elisheva Smith and Aviv Dombrovsky*

## Contents



Preface

The science of plant diseases (plant pathology or phytopathology) has become like a child of needfulness. Plant diseases have caused concern throughout history since the first crop plants were domesticated during the transition to agriculture between 2,000 to 12,000 years B.C. The first record of plant disease symptoms was found in Vedas (Rugveda, Athavaeda) as early as 1,200 B.C. Control of a disease was mentioned in "VRIKSHAYURVED" by Surapal in ancient India. Mention of plant disease has been made in Buddhist literature in 500 B.C. The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote about plant diseases in 350 B.C. Theophrastus also wrote about cereal disease and even suggested some remedies to control them (in 300 B.C). In the Medieval Ages, the writings of the Arabian Ibn-al-Awam (10th Century, Seville, Spain) described symptoms and control measures for some plant diseases. There are references in the Old Testament of the Bible to blights, blasts, and mildews (6th century B.C.). Following the above-mentioned references, we can begin to understand that with domestication of crop species, their pathogens

Since ancient times, plant pathogens, as the causal agents of plant diseases, have challenged farmers because agriculture was crucial in supporting growing human populations. The need for the study of plant pathogens gave rise to the development of new sciences, new technologies for plant breeding, and the agrochemical industry for pesticide development. Yet, all our actions and efforts to suppress or eradicate these diseases has constantly pressured these various organisms to evolve and adapt for survival. This ability is a natural phenomenon or evolution. For the pathogens in modern agro-ecosystems, the selection pressures are provided by human. Pathogens constantly find new ways to adapt to conditions that humans create and keep existing. Is it possible that with the cultivation of plants, we have

Plant diseases today are diseases of high standards because all agricultural techniques and pest management methods implemented in modern agricultural crop production to cherish the crop simultaneously provide ideal homogenous environments for their pathogens. In particular, large areas under monoculture production of genetically uniform plant population, fertilization, and irrigation creates an environment with fewer factors that could reduce populations or even extermination of pathogens. Moreover, the co-evolution of pathogens and their plant host may occur even faster in agricultural ecosystems (agro-ecosystems) than in natural ecosystems. Because of the implementation of agricultural techniques and pest management, the agricultural field is less prone to environmental fluctuations. Therefore, it is important to understand the evolutionary processes especially because speciation may occur more rapidly for plant pathogens than for other organisms. In the 21st century, the principles of evolutionary biology are implemented in phytopathology because of the understanding of the evolutionary processes that leading to the emergence of new pathogens. Understanding that the nature of the agro-ecosystems has played and continues to play a critical role in

have also developed.

also cultivated pathogens?
