Panconesi A., Moricca S., Ragazzi A., Dellavalle I., Tiberi R. – Parassiti delle piante arboree forestali ed ornamentali. Specie introdotte e di temuta introduzione. Pàtron Editore, Bologna, 2014, 447 pp. ISBN 9788855532198
George N. Agrios – Plant Pathology, Academic Publishers 2005
Giacomo Lorenzini – Princìpi di fitoiatria, Edagricole 2001
Photocopies of specific articles and material on CD, provided by the teacher.
Learning Objectives
To provide students with practical-theoretical knowledge on the main diagnostic methods and on the strategies and tools available for the control of the principal plant diseases.
Prerequisites
Students are expected to be familiar with the principles and terminology of biology and microbiology, as well as with the morphology, anatomy, and physiology of plants.
Courses required: Plant pathology, Botany, Plant Physiology, Microbiology
Teaching Methods
Frontal classes. Exercises in the laboratory and in the field. Guided tours.
Further information
Classes, exercises and lab attendance non mandatory but strongly recommended.
Teaching tools: video projector, PC, overhead projector, experimental fields, labs
Type of Assessment
Oral examination
Course program
Plant disease diagnosis concept. The anamnestic survey. Visual inspection of plants and infected plant parts. Comparison between healthy and diseased plant. Influence of environmental factors on the biology of plant parasites. Pathogen dispersal. Symptoms and signs of the disease. Alteration of plant tissues by parasitic and non-parasitic factors. Symptoms on plants organs (leaf, flower, fruit, branches, trunk, neck, roots). Tissue discoloration analysis. Histological examination of tissues. Humid chambers. Isolation of plant pathogens in purity. Literature search. Experimental infection. Koch's postulates. Convergence and divergence of symptoms. Examination of disease in different crop types (forests, field crops, vegetable gardens, orchards, nurseries, greenhouses, parks, urban parks, trees, etc.). Physiological identification methods: classification of pathogens in relation to their ability to grow on selected substrates and / or to secrete certain secondary metabolites. Serological diagnosis. Use of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies: principles and methods. Innovative devices for serological diagnosis. Diagnosis by protein electrophoresis. Diagnosis based on nucleic acids. Standard techniques and rapid techniques for DNA extraction. Mini-preparations of genomic DNA. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Selective PCR. PCR variants (real-time PCR, nested PCR, multiplex PCR, competitive PCR, immunocapture PCR). Tests on the efficacy of a molecular diagnostic protocol: specificity, universality and sensitivity of the assay. electrophoretic techniques. Main DNA "target" (DNA regions) used for diagnostic purposes. Other methods for the detection of DNA polymorphisms (RFLP, RAPD, SSCP, sequencing of specific regions of interest, etc.).
Basic principles of plant disease management and control. Epidemiological quantitative aspects of a disease and their influence on the choice and integration of control measures: initial inoculation, the infection rate, time duration of host-pathogen interaction. General principles for disease management; exclusion, disease escape, eradication, protection, resistance and therapy. Biological control methods: biological and molecular basis of hypovirulence, antibiosis, resistance induction in the host, hyperparasitism. Suppressive soil and substrates; Biological-based control products marketed in Italy and their applications on the seed, the soil, the roots and the phyllosphere. Agronomic control: alteration of the microbial balance of the soil and of the plant through the addition of organic matter, tillage, fertilization, crop rotation, irrigation and pruning. Genetic control: types of resistance breeding for resistance. Physical control: soil solarization and heat treatment to propagation material. Chemical control: main groups of fungicides; their spectra and mode of action; formulations; miscibility and synergistic action; toxicity classes; development of resistance to active molecules; the European revision of pesticides. Integration of environmentally-friendly methods and control strategies. Case studies of biological and integrated control. Sanitation of seeds and planting material. The use of copper and sulfur in organic farming. integrated management of the major diseases of grapes and olives.
Practice
Guided tours to traditional and molecular plant pathology laboratories. Field trips, with visual detection of macroscopic symptoms. Microscopic examination of symptoms in the laboratory. DNA extraction and amplification in the laboratory. Check of the activity of a pesticide in vivo and in vitro. In vitro antagonism assays. Visits to nurseries and companies which operate in plant protection with innovative techniques.