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​​​Search the Ed Center​Plant Disease Profiles

These profiles explain the relationships between hosts, microbes, and the environment that result in plant disease. The profiles are for students, educators, and other interested learners.

​​​​Fungal Pathogens & Diseases

More than just mushrooms and molds, fungi are an entire kingdom of organisms, closely related to animals. Fungal pathogens cause a majority of plant diseases, which span all hosts and ecosystems.

Oomycete Pathogens & Diseases

Oomycetes are fungal-like organisms, more closely related to brown algae than to fungi or plants. Many oomycetes can cause devastating epidemics in globally important crops.

Bacterial Pathogens & Diseases

Bacteria are single-celled prokaryotes, simple in form but complex in behavior. Bacterial pathogens infect a wide variety of hosts, and often have interesting relationships with insect vectors and the environment.

Viral Pathogens & Diseases

Viruses are sub-microscopic pathogens, often vectored by insect vectors or physical contact, which can cause difficult-to-manage disease epidemics.

Nematode Pathogens & Diseases

Nematodes are small parasitic roundworms that burrow into roots or other plant tissues to extract nutrients from their hosts; some can cause devastating plant diseases on a wide range of plants.

Other Pathogens & Diseases

Cercozoans, rhizaria, algae, protozoans, and other groups of organisms have very few members capable of causing plant disease. Too small in numbers to have their own categories, they can still pack a punch on some very valuable plants.

Disease Complexes & Abiotic Diseases

Some diseases occur only as complexes, caused by co-infections with more than one kind of pathogen. Nutritional availability or environmental stresses can also cause debilitating plant problems, which are often confused with (or contribute to) pathogen-caused diseases. These multi-factor diseases and disorders can be devastating.

​By Crop

View a listing of disease profiles organized by crop.​