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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Botany & plant sciences > Plant pathology & diseases
Palms are monocots, Angiosperms, belonging to the family Palmae
(Arecaceae), perennials having woody stems. Palmae (Arecaceae)
family comprised of about six subfamilies, 200 genera and 2,700
species that are distributed all over the tropical, subtropical and
Mediterranean landscape. Palms are diverse (ecologically and
morphologically) group of plants. Ornamental palms are important
component of landscape as well as interiorscapes. Additionally,
these plants are good source of food, feed and shelter with
numerous other commercial benefits. Likewise other trees and crops,
landscape and field nurseries of palms are also subjected to
various threats of insect pest and diseases (caused by different
plant pathogens). Amongst fungal diseases leaf spots, leaf blights,
Fusarium wilts, butt rots, bud rots, root rots, lethal yellowing
and decline of palms are major growth constraints of palm growth.
In developing countries very little attention has been paid on the
etiology and management of these fungal diseases on ornamental
palms. Accurate diagnosis and reliable management plan of palm
fungal diseases usually requires expertise in both modern and
advanced plant pathological approaches. Historically it was general
belief that plant pathogens are not associated with human diseases.
Since 19th century, several clinical reports are available
indicating many plant pathogenic fungi (Aspergillus spp.,
Penicillium spp., Alternaria spp., Trichoderma spp., Fusarium spp.,
Curvularia spp. and Colletotrichum Spp) as novel agents of human
diseases. Besides the association of fungal plant pathogens
infecting ornamental palms, harbouring any of earlier mentioned or
other fungal species (capable of causing certain diseases in human
beings or pets) by the ornamental palms cultivation (either grown
indoor or outdoor) is an important area of research to be explored
and addressed thoroughly. This book will provide the deep
information regarding major fungal diseases of ornamental palms,
their symptoms, disease identification, and etiology and management
strategies. This book will also provide unique knowledge regarding
the ornamental palms harbouring kinds of human fungal pathogens and
their practical management at domestic and commercial scale, in
order to make cultivation of these plant more beneficial for
humans, animals and environment.
The search for new strategies of pest control with safer molecules
is currently of great importance and interest. Microbe-mediated
biological crop protection is an attractive and promising
technology with no concern for a negative impact on the environment
and biodiversity. Microbial hydrolytic enzymes such as proteases,
chitinases, lipases, etc. are attractive for this purpose. They
present toxic properties and act synergistically to control pest
attacks. Also, some metabolites, that microorganisms produce for
their survival or defense, can be explored and exploited for plant
protection. The focus of this Volume is on the potential of
microbial hydrolytic enzymes and their metabolites in agroecosystem
functioning. Subsequent chapters review topics such as microbial
hydrolytic enzymes as powerful management tools, chitinases in IPM
of agro-horticultural crops, metabolites as pesticides and the
importance of the metabolites of entomopathogenic fungi,
metabolites and virulence factors. Other topicas include:
microbial-based nanoparticles, recombinant DNA technologies to
improve the efficacy of microbial insecticides, the effects of
entomopathogens on insect predators and parasitoids, and the
management of major vegetable insect pests. This Volume provides
detailed accounts on the safe use of microbial products for
sustainable management of insect pests. Its aim is to build solid
foundations for the students, teachers, and researchers interested
in eco-friendly management of important insect crop pests.
Sucking pests are most notorious group of pests for agricultural
crops. Unlike most pests with chewing mouth parts, sucking pests
cause more severe damage to the crops and are complex to get
identified until advanced stages of infection. Not only is this
late detection detrimental to their effective control, sucking
pests also often cause fungal growth and virus transmission. The
book emphasizes on sucking pests of most major crops of India. It
aims to reflect Indian scenario before the international
readership. This book complies comprehensive information on sucking
pests of crops and brings the attention of the readers to this
multiple damage causing insect complex. The chapters are
contributed by highly experienced Indigenous experts from
Universities & ICAR institutes, and book collates useful
content for students and young researchers in plant pathology,
entomology and agriculture.
This edited volume is a comprehensive account of plant diseases and
insect pests, plant protection and management for various crops
using microbial and biotechnological approaches. The book
elucidates the role of biotechnology for the enhancement of crop
productivity and management of bacterial and fungal diseases via
eco-friendly methods. It discusses crop-pest/ pathogen interaction
and utilizing this interaction in a beneficial and sustainable way.
This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, plant scientists
and plant pathologists. Also the book serves as additional reading
material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture,
forestry, ecology, soil science, and environmental sciences.
Plant growth and development is closely dependent on the plant
environment, including the wide-spread presence of organic and
inorganic xenobiotics and pollutants. Currently, heavy metals are
the most common inorganic environmental pollutants and they have
pronounced effects and consequences not only for plants, but also
for the ecosystem in which the plants form an integral component.
It has been suggested that these contaminants accumulate in
agricultural crops, thus entering the food chain and posing a
significant health risk. Plants growing in polluted sites exhibit
altered metabolism, reduced growth, and decreased biomass
production. These pollutants adhere to plant roots and exert
physical or chemical toxicity and subsequently cell death in
plants. Yet, plants have developed various defence mechanisms to
counteract the toxicity induced by heavy metals. Only detailed
study of the processes and mechanisms would allow researchers and
students to understand the interactions, responses, and adaptations
of plants to these pollutants; however, there are several
unresolved issues and challenges regarding the interaction and
biological effects of heavy metals. Therefore, this volume provides
relevant, state-of-the-art findings on environmental phytotoxicity
and the mechanisms of such interactions at the cellular and
molecular levels. This volume consists of chapters on relevant
topics contributed by different experts or group of experts so as
to make available a comprehensive treatise designed to provide an
in-depth analysis of heavy metals phytotoxicity. This book may
serve as a reference to scientists, researchers and students in the
fields of toxicology, environmental toxicology, phytotoxicology,
plant biology, plant physiology, plant biochemistry and plant
molecular biology, and especially those interested in heavy metals
toxicology.
The regulation of the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation process,
resulting in "cellular switches" that monitor normal plant
physiology, growth and development, has immense potential in crop
systems. With much of the information in the nascent stages, coming
largely from Arabidopsis and rice particularly, the use of cell
biology, genetic screens, biochemical approaches aided by an omics
approach should help unravel the detail functional information
available about signaling pathways in plants. The regulation could
be exploited to develop crop varieties better equipped to handle
changing environments and enhance agricultural productivity. In the
post-genomic era, one of the major challenges is investigation and
understanding of multiple genes and gene families regulating a
particular physiological and developmental aspect of plant life
cycle. One of the important physiological processes is regulation
of stress response, which leads to adaptation or adjustment in
response to adverse stimuli. With the holistic understanding of the
signaling pathways involving phosphatases, one gene family or
multiple genes or gene families, plant biologist can lay a
foundation for designing and generating future crops, which can
withstand the higher degree of environmental stresses. Especially
abiotic stresses, which are the major cause of crop loss throughout
the world without losing crop yield and productivity. This book
incorporates the contributions from leading plant biologists in the
field of stress-mediated dephosphorylation by phosphatases as an
important task to elucidate the aspects of stress signaling by
functional genomic approaches.
This book illustrates the currently available strategies for
managing phytonematodes. It discusses the latest findings on
plant-pathogen-microbiome interactions and their impacts on
ecosystems, and provides extensive information on the application
of microorganisms in the sustainable management of phytonematodes.
This is followed by an in-depth discussion of the application of
potential strains of biocontrol fungi, endophytes and actinomycetes
to enhance plants' ability to fend off phytonematode attacks,
leading to improved plant health. In conclusion, the book addresses
new aspects like the biofabrication of nanoparticles and their
application in plant disease management, and presents an extensive
list for further reading.
Agriculture faces many challenges to fulfil the growing demand for
sustainable food production and ensure high-quality nutrition for a
rapidly growing population. To guarantee adequate food production,
it is necessary to increase the yield per area of arable land. A
method for achieving this goal has been the application of growth
regulators to modulate plant growth. Plant growth regulators (PGRs)
are substances in specific formulations which, when applied to
plants or seeds, have the capacity to promote, inhibit, or modify
physiological traits, development and/or stress responses. They
maintain proper balance between source and sink for enhancing crop
yield. PGRs are used to maximize productivity and quality, improve
consistency in production, and overcome genetic and abiotic
limitations to plant productivity. Suitable PGRs include hormones
such as cytokinins and auxins, and hormone-like compounds such as
mepiquat chloride and paclobutrazol. The use of PGRs in mainstream
agriculture has steadily increased within the last 20 years as
their benefits have become better understood by growers.
Unfortunately, the growth of the PGR market may be constrained by a
lack of innovation at a time when an increase in demand for new
products will require steady innovation and discovery of novel,
cost-competitive, specific, and effective PGRs. A plant
bio-stimulant is any substance or microorganism applied to plants
with the aim to enhance nutrition efficiency, abiotic stress
tolerance and/or crop quality traits, regardless of its nutrients
content. Apart from traditional PGRs, which are mostly plant
hormones, there are a number of substances/molecules such as nitric
oxide, methyl jasmonate, brassinosteroids, seaweed extracts,
strigolactones, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria etc. which act
as PGRs. These novel PGRs or bio-stimulants have been reported to
play important roles in stress responses and adaptation. They can
protect plants against various stresses, including water deficit,
chilling and high temperatures, salinity and flooding. This book
includes chapters ranging from sensing and signalling in plants to
translational research. In addition, the cross-talk operative in
plants in response to varied signals of biotic and abiotic nature
is also presented. Ultimately the objective of this book is to
present the current scenario and the future plan of action for the
management of stresses through traditional as well as novel PGRs.
We believe that this book will initiate and introduce readers to
state-of-the-art developments and trends in this field of study.
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