Detection, characterization, and management of plant pathogens

Book excerpt: Plant pathogens cause significant economic losses and endanger agricultural sustainability. The emergence of new plant diseases is caused primarily by international trade, climate change, and pathogens' ability to evolve quickly. Rapid and accurate identification of plant pathogens is critical for disease management. The diversity and distribution of plant pathogens, on the other hand, can significantly impede disease management and diagnostic efforts. Plant pathogens employ a number of strategies that result in diversity, transmission, and host adaptation. Plant pathogens have been observed interacting with a wide range of host species such as plants, endophytes, insects, pollinators, and other plant pathogens. However, the transmission and evolution of plant pathogens in hosts, as well as the impact of pathogens on different hosts, are often unknown.