Detection and Identification of Plant Diseases

• Plant diseases can be detected by:

  • stunted growth
  • spots on leaves
  • areas of decay (rot)
  • growths
  • malformed stems or leaves
  • discolouration
  • the presence of pests
• identification can be made by:

  • reference to a gardening manual or website
  • taking infected plants to a lab to identify the pathogen
  • using testing kits that contain monoclonal antibodies
• Plants can be infected by a range of bacterial, viral and fungal diseases
• Plants can be damaged by a range of ion deficiency conditions

  • stunted growth caused by nitrate deficiency
  • chlorosis caused by magnesium deficiency
• Nitrate ions are needed for protein synthesis and therefore growth, and magnesium ions are needed to make chlorophyll