The contents of this course will cover two major components of plant-pathogen interactions, the first part of the course will cover the mechanisms and strategies used by plant pathogens to colonize plant tissues (pathogenesis) and the second part will focus on host plant defenses against the invading pathogen (s) (host defenses). General principles and specific interactions using selected pathosystems will be used to illustrate microbial pathogenesis strategies. Interactions with economic significance and level of available knowledge will be chosen for detailed analysis. We will also highlight non-pathogenic interactions. Emphasis on this course will be on basic understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of host pathogen interactions and genetics of plant pathogenesis covering milestone and recent advances in the area of plant pathogenesis.
Objectives:
1. Learn about the general principles of plant pathogenesis with emphasis on bacterial, fungal, nematode, and viral pathogenic strategies.
2. Learn the genetic, molecular and biochemical underpinnings of the emerging concepts and paradigms that lead to successful plant colonization.
3. Learn how plants defend themselves against invading pathogens including basic defenses and genetic resistance provided by major resistance genes.
4. Learn how knowledge gained from studies of plant pathogenesis can be translated into stable, sustainable and environmentally-sound approaches of crop protection.
