Global challenges facing plant pathology: multidisciplinary approaches to meet the food security and environmental challenges in the mid-twenty-first century

Authors: JEGER, MICHAEL - Imperial College; BERESFORD, ROBERT - New Zealand Institute Of Plant & Food Research; Bock, Clive; BROWN, NATHAN - Woodland Heritage; FOX, ADRIAN - Fera Science Ltd; NEWTON, ADRIAN - The James Hutton Institute; VICENT, ANTONIO - Instituto Valenciano De Investigaciones Agrarias; XU, XIANGMING - East Malling Research; YUEN, JONATHAN - Swedish University Of Agricultural Sciences

Submitted to: Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) Invasive Species Compendium
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/14/2021
Publication Date: 5/26/2021
Citation: Jeger, M.J., Beresford, R., Bock, C.H., Brown, N., Fox, A., Newton, A., Vicent, A., Xu, X., Yuen, J. 2021. Global challenges facing plant pathology: multidisciplinary approaches to meet the food security and environmental challenges in the mid-twenty-first century. International Congress of Plant Pathology Abstracts and Proceedings. Vol 2:20.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Scientific advances continue to be made by plant pathologists on specific topics relevant in plant health, environmental protection, and food security. It is important for the scientific community to evaluate the impact of these advances when faced with the global challenges of the mid 21st century (1). Impact will depend on recognition of the multidimensional nature of these challenges and the ability to transcend discipline-based research and taxonomic boundaries, integrating studies from the molecular to the ecological in a systems level approach. The adoption of high throughput sequencing for diagnosis and detection in plant virology and increasingly with other pathogen taxa (2), will make little impact unless providing the agricultural and ecological context and combined with improved surveillance (3). Deployment of novel resistances to specific pathogens needs to be aligned with a greater appreciation of genetic diversity (4) and the complementary contribution that tolerance of plant disease can make (5). Epidemiological understanding of the temporal and spatial spread of plant diseases can be enhanced by population genetic approaches for established (6), invasive (7), and emerging (8) plant pathogens. Recent emphasis on holobiont research can invigorate soil microbial studies (9) especially for disease complexes and declines (10). Finally, the challenge of climate change cannot be met with single pathogen-single crop studies but requires these to be placed in the context of shifting populations of new crops, wild plants, and soil microbes (11). 1 Jeger et al. 2021. Global challenges facing plant pathology: multidisciplinary approaches to meet the food security and environmental challenges in the mid-twenty-first century. CABI Agriculture & Bioscience 2: 20. 2 Maasart et al. 2022. Guidelines for the use of high throughput sequencing technologies to detect plant pathogens and pests. Peer Community Journal 2: e62. 3 Bock et al. 2022. A special issue on phytopathometry – visual assessment, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence in the twenty-first century. Tropical Plant Pathology 47: 1-4. 4 Brooker et al. 2021. Facilitation and biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships in crop production systems and their role in sustainable farming. Journal of Ecology 109: 2054-2067. 5 Jeger 2022. Tolerance of plant virus disease: its genetic, physiological, and epidemiological significance. Food and Energy Security, online: e440. 6 Huang et al. 2021. Analyses of wheat yellow rust populations reveal sexual recombination and seasonal migration pattern of Puccinia striiformis f.sp tritici in Gangu, northwestern China. Phytopathology 111: 2268-2277. 7 McCarthy et al. 2021. Using spatial models to identify refugia and guide restoration in response to an invasive plant pathogen. Journal of Applied Ecology 58: 192-201. 8 Cendoya et al. 2022. An individual-based spatial epidemiological model for the spread of plant diseases. Research Square, preprint posted 11 October. 9 Malusà et al. 2021. A holistic approach for enhancing the efficacy of soil microbial inoculants in agriculture: from lab to field-scale. Global Journal of Agricultural Innovation, Research & Development 8: 176-190. 10 Scarlett et al. 2021. Relationship between nitrogen cycling microbial community abundance and composition reveal the indirect effect of soil pH on oak decline. The ISME Journal 15: 623-635. 11 Jeger 2022. The impact of climate change on disease in wild plant populations and communities. Plant Pathology 71: 111-130.