The book "A Laboratory Guide for Identification of Plant Pathogenic Fungi" is an indispensable resource for educators and students in the fields of botany, forestry, agriculture, vegetable sciences, silviculture, fodder, and pasture science, as well as those studying fungi that infect plants and crops for accurate identification. This comprehensive guide includes 14 chapters that cover fundamental fungal structures such as various types of mycelia, septa, sexual and asexual spores, sexual and asexual fruiting bodies, and specialized fungal structures for fungal genera and species. Additionally, it summarizes the different types of fungal disease symptoms on various plant parts, including the root, collar region, stem and twig, leaves, inflorescence, flower, and seed, along with the fungal genera and species responsible for causing them.
The book also provides information on the morphological characteristics used for fungal identification and the molecular techniques employed in such identification. As a result, this book is a crucial tool for identifying plant pathogenic fungi, and its absence previously hindered the practical training of students in many academic institutions. The availability of this resource will help to overcome this training deficit.
Professor S. G. Borkar is an alumnus of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; INRA Angers, France; and International University, Washington, USA. He has more than 38 years of professional experience in the subject of Plant Pathology in at least 3 Agricultural universities in two states. He has more than 135 research articles published in national and foreign journals, including 10 books on his subject in India and USA, and 6 patents. He has mentored 30 students for their Masters and Doctorate degrees in Plant Pathology.
The co-authors of the book are his research degree students and are presently working as Assistant Professors of Plant Pathology at different Agricultural Universities. Ajayasree TS is at Kerala Agriculture University, P. Srilatha is at Professor JayashankarTelangana Agriculture University, and Jayashree Bhattacharjee is at Cultyvate with wide experience in teaching the subject of fungal pathology.
Chapter 1. The Fungi: A dreaded pathogen for crop plants
Chapter 2. Microscopy of fungal specimens
Chapter 3. Glossary used in the identification of fungi
Chapter 4. Identification of fungi causing soil borne diseases
Chapter 5. Identification of fungi causing diseases near the collar region
Chapter 6. Identification of fungi causing foliar diseases
Chapter 7. Identification of fungi causing stem/ twig diseases
Chapter 8. Identification of fungi causing inflorescence diseases
Chapter 9. Identification of fungi causing fruit diseases
Chapter 10. Identification of fungi causing grain/seed diseases
Chapter 11. Identification of fungi causing post-harvest diseases in transit and storage
Chapter 12. Isolation of fungal pathogen for culturing & identification
Chapter 13. Testing pathogenicity of fungal cultures (Koch’s postulates)
Chapter 14. Molecular Techniques in the identification of fungal cultures