Botrytis: Biology, Pathology and Control

The book is the result of intensive work of 43 authors, all of whom are leading scientists in the Botrytis sciences. Each chapter describes a particular aspect of fungal biology and its impact on disease processes and host response. New technologies have arisen that when applied to long-standing problems or to test new hypotheses have been most rewarding and many of these are covered in this book. The chapters are cross linked so that readers can follow associated material to better understand the practical implications of the advances made in fundamental science. The twenty inter-connected chapters of the book are grouped according to three major themes: the fungus and its pathogenicity factors; plant reactions to infection; and epidemiology and management of important Botrytis-incited diseases. This book adopts a multidisciplinary approach to integrate the state-of-the-art knowledge in all key areas of common interest in the fungi and their plant interactions. The book includes detailed reviews of Botrytis spp. and the diseases they cause in plant systems and provides a comprehensive description of these fungal necrotrophs, including their diversity of response to the environment, their speciation and relatedness, sources of variation for evolution and molecular genetics and genomics. Aspects of Botrytis-host interactions, pathogenicity factors, the plant's reactions to infection, morphology and cellular organization, signaling, key enzymes, reactive oxygen species and oxidative processes in disease on-set, secondary metabolites as plant defense substances and the role of phytohormones in such reactions are emphasized in the book. Several innovative approaches for disease management of this group of destructive pathogens and methods of detection, epidemiological studies and chemical and biological control are also discussed.