Mollicutes

This book is the first of the 3-volume Innovative Approaches in Diagnosis and Management of Crop Diseases, which provides an abundance of new research and information on major diseases of various crops along with new techniques and technology for the detection of plant pathogens along with appropriate management strategies.

Divided into three volumes and with chapters written by renowned and expert scientists working in different areas of plant pathology, the volumes cover important diseases of crops incited by bacteria, fungi, viruses, viroids, phytoplasma, and nematodes. It addresses these disease challenges to commercial field and horticultural crops and their management. Chapters cover recent advances in diagnosis and detection of diseases of rice, wheat, pulses, guava, aonla, cucurbits, ginger, sesame, cotton, pigeonpea, field pea, small millets, maize, and cruciferous vegetables as well as ornamental plants.

Innovative Approaches in Diagnosis and Management of Crop Diseases: Volume 1 focuses on the Mollicute class of bacteria. It looks at the detection, diagnosis, and management of phytoplasma diseases and viroids, CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in plants for virus resistance, next-generation sequencing technologies, and more.

Key features:

• Presents diverse research of leading plant pathologists on detection, diagnosis, and management of crop diseases
• Shares innovative and emerging techniques for diagnosis and management of major plant diseases
• Covers a vast array of important crops and their diseases

Volume 2 looks specifically at the diseases of field and horticultural crops, while Volume 3 reviews the advances in the use of nanomolecules and biocontrol agents. Diagnosis and management of biotic stresses play a pivotal role in efficient agriculture production, and together, these volumes of Innovative Approaches in Diagnosis and Management of Crop Diseases provide reviews of crucial research to effectively advance the detection, diagnosis, and management of crop diseases.

Rakesh Kumar Singh, PhD, is Head, Plant Pathology at Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (RVSKVV), College of Agriculture, Indore, M.P., India. He is esteemed member of national and international research societies and a fellow of the Indian Society of Pulses Research and Development. He has been honored with four awards from national societies. Dr. Singh has guided 25 MSc (Ag) and 3 PhD students on modern integrated areas in biology and has published over 65 research papers along with book chapters, instructional manuals, and popular articles. He has experience in teaching, research, and extension work in agriculture in various capacities for over 20 years. He was PI of a project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), ICAR, and evaluated several newly evolved agrochemical companies. He is actively working in the detection of plant pathogens and the identification of sources of resistance in chickpea and mungbean. Dr. Singh has developed a molecular plant pathology laboratory for wilt sick plot for chickpea and mushroom cultivation and a value addition laboratory at RVSKVV.

Gopala, PhD, is affiliated with Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (RVSKVV), College of Agriculture, Indore, M.P., India. He earned his MSc and PhD degrees in Plant Pathology from IARI, New Delhi, India. He has cleared his exams such as ICAR PGS-JRF and had a IARI merit scholarship for his PhD. He also cleared ICAR NET in 2014. He has received three awards from national societies. During his MSc work, he has developed a new screening technique and rating scale for stalk rot of maize caused by Macrophomina phaseolina. During his PhD work, he has reported new phytoplasma diseases in Cucurbita pepo, bougainvillea, dianthus, petunia, and ornamental kale along with its associated vectors. He has submitted more than 50 sequences to the National Center for Biotechnology Information and received accession numbers. Dr. Gopala has published more than 15 research papers in journals of national and international repute.