For years, scientists and online databases presumed the presence of clubroot—one of the main diseases on cruciferous crops (such as broccoli, cabbage, and kale)—in Mexico. However, no evidence to support this supposition existed until a team of researchers donned their detective caps to pinpoint the clubroot pathogen.
Plants face constant attack by diseases, insect swarms, and fungi, resulting in crop losses that threaten global food security. Discovering new ways to help the plant defend itself against attack is an enormous challenge for scientists.
Researchers are forecasting that by 2040-60, Sosnowsky’s hogweed will likely exploit global warming to expand its habitat, threatening to infest almost the entire European part of Russia.
In contrast to previous assumptions, the defense hormones salicylic acid and jasmonic acid do not always suppress each other in regulating plant chemical defenses against pests and pathogens. In trees, the interplay of both hormones can actually increase plant resistance. This is the conclusion researchers draw in a new study on poplars.
A protein that allows the fungus that causes white mold stem rot in more than 600 plant species to overcome plant defenses has been identified by a team of scientists.
A recent publication provides results of the first-ever study to test genomic selection in breeding for resistance to wheat blast, a deadly disease caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae that is spreading from its origin in Brazil to threaten wheat crops in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Doctor X Nabat is the name of an application for the early detection of diseases and pests in horticultural crops, developed by an international team (Spain, Dubai, Egypt, Tunis, United Arab Emirates). This tool, aimed at farmers and agriculture experts, is available for devices with Android systems and computers. The tool has been tested in tomato, pepper and cucumber crops.
An international team of scientists has used neutron reflectometry techniques to understand how disease-causing pathogens damage the cell membranes of plants.
A study has conducted a comprehensive survey of nearly 200 potentially harmful alien plant species that could have a detrimental impact upon agriculture, forestry and biodiversity in Ghana once they enter the country.
Scientists observed that ergot, a common plant disease on rye, defended its host plant chemically against grass feeding insects. The ergot disease in grains spoils the yield and causes seed loss to the plant. Based on this, it is classified as harmful from the human perspective. A new study states that the ergot appears to be a beneficial protector for its host plant capable of even increasing plant fitness.
