Plant structure and appearance varies throughout a plant’s lifecycle. It is natural for leaves to brown and fall and it is not uncommon for fruits and flowers to vary in size and shape. However, there is a range of factors that can lead to more intensive damage and irregularities. These factors are known as plant…
Loss of Turgor Pressure (decrease in water pressure within plant cell walls) Causes: abiotic factors, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects Examples: Ralstonia solanacearum, Verticillium dahliae, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus Enations (scaly leaflike structures that lack a vascular system) Causes: viruses Examples: Cherry raspberry leaf virus, Pea enation mosaic virus Stunting (dwarfing or loss of vigor) Causes:…
Plant tolerance and plant resistance are ways that plants deal with stressors in their environment. Resistance and tolerance are plants’ best defense mechanisms. At the most basic level, the difference between tolerance and resistance is related to how the plant defends itself. In the case of tolerance, the plant has strategies that helps it to…
A disease, as it relates to plants, is a disturbance from plant pathogens or environmental factors that interfere with plant physiology. When a disease is present, plants will express symptoms. Symptoms are the detectable expression of a disease, pest or environmental factor. These symptoms are usually the result of complex physiological disturbances. They result in changes…