Plant Diseases Caused by Fungi

Fungi belong to a large and diverse group of micro organisms. Fungi are actually cells, that are made of a membrane bound nucleus and are devoid of chlorophyll. They also have rigid cell walls. These fungi have a vegetative body, of which some parts extends into the air and others penetrate the substrate of the organisms that it grows on. Fungi propagate through sexual as well as asexual methods and are spread through spores, that are produced in abundance. These spores are transmitted on plants through wind, water, soil, birds and insects. There are various plant diseases caused by fungi. Read more on the various types of fungi.

Plant Diseases Caused by Fungus
Once one of your plant is infected by a fungus, it is important that you protect your other plants from the fungal infection. Majority of the plant diseases, about 8,000, are caused by fungi. These fungi include yeasts, ruts, smuts, mildews, molds, mushrooms and toadstools. Let's read more about it.

Rust
It is a fugal diseases in plants, which produces reddish-brown discoloration of the stems and leaves.

Black Rot
This plant disease caused by fungi is characterized by the darkening and decaying of leaves of fruit and vegetable plants.

Black Spot
It is one of the many fungal diseases in plants. It is thus named because it produces small black spots on plants.

Bottom Rot
This is a fungal disease found on lettuce plants. The characteristic of this fungus is that it first affects the leaves on the lower part of the plant and then moves upward to affect the upper part.

Canker
There are some fungus infections, that also affect the roots and bark of the plants. One such fungi is canker fungi. It is found on woody trees and is notorious for causing localized damage to the bark of trees.

Cotton Ball
This plant disease caused by fungi is notorious for attacking cranberry plants.

Crown Wart
Like canker attacks on the barks of woody trees, this fungus attacks the stem of the alfalfa plants. It forms white protrusions at the base of the stem of the plant.

Potato Wart
It is a fungal disease that causes dark, warty, spongy excrescences in the eyes of potato tubers, similar to the crown wart in alfalfa plants.

Damping Off
This fungal infection causes excessive moisture conditions of the seedlings. Read about the characteristics of fungi.

Dry Rot
This fungal disease in plants causes the drying and crumbling of timber, bulbs, potatoes or fruits.

Rhizoctinia Disease
This disease is caused by fungi called Pellicularia and Corticium. It is often seen to affect small potatoes.

Root Rot
Like leaves, barks and stems, the roots can also be infected with fungal infectios. Root rot disease causes root decay, eventually causing the plant to die.

Sclerotium Rot
Fungus of the genus Sclerotium causes the formation of sclerotia on plants.

Dutch Elm Disease
This is a fungal disease affecting Elms. It spreads from one plant to another through root grafts or by the elm beetles that feed on small twigs.

Pinkroot
This fungal disease attacks onion plants and makes them unsuitable for consumption.

Soft Rot
Slimy, mushy decay caused by fungi is known as soft rot.

Yellow Spot
This fungal disease is characterized by a yellow spotting on the leaves of plants.

Powdery Mildews
The characteristic of this fungal infection is that it is often specific to the host that it invades. It is normally seen on roses, lilac, English oak, zinnias, etc.

Plant Wilting
This fungus disease gets it name because it causes the plant it infects to wilt. The fungus invasion starts in the roots and then slowly makes its way into the stem and plugs the vascular system of the plant.

Decay
Decomposition of wood that is caused by fungi is called as decay. When it attacks living plant tissue, it kills the plants.

As there are plant diseases caused by fungi, there are also plant diseases caused by bacteria and viruses as well. At the same time, some times some plant diseases are caused by adverse environmental and climatic conditions. There are some plants that have a natural resistance to certain diseases, especially if these diseases and the plants have evolved together. Research is been carried out, to check if this resistance genetics can be transferred to other susceptible plants.