Biotech Updates

Plant Disease Photographs and Key Information Made Available On-line

January 14, 2015

Dr. Rob Williams (formerly of IITA, ICRISAT, CIBA GEIGY & CABI), in collaboration with Dr. Kathie Hodge of Cornell University's Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Microbe Biology, has made available on-line his collection of photographs of plant diseases annotated with key information on the diseases and the pathogens that cause them. There is a strong emphasis on diseases of tropical food crops, including cassava, pearl millet, sorghum, rice, maize, cowpea and soybean.

The collection includes: the first ever photographs of cassava bacterial blight and cassava mealy bug in Africa; evidence of the importance of crop-pathogen-environment interactions, and of the understanding of the biology and epidemiology of diseases; the power of host plant resistance and the key role of effective screening and selection systems in the development of valuable new cultivars; and the effectiveness of simple seed treatments as components of crop disease control systems.

The photo collection and associated information can be accessed directly at: http://tinyurl.com/CUP-Williams. For use of the images please see the terms of the Cornell University Plant Pathology Herbarium website http://www.plantpath.cornell.edu/CUPpages/CUPphotos.html#CUP-Williams.