Plant Bacteriology

The study of plant bacteriology has led to countless novel findings and advances benefitting medicine and biotechnology as well as horticulture and agriculture. Our understanding of plant bacteriology has reached a point where it is fitting to integrate its concepts and ideas into an essential reference and textbook. Plant Bacteriology provides fundamental knowledge every plant scientist and student of plant pathology should know, including important historical events that gave birth to the field as well as its recent advances. This textbook will serve as a comprehensive resource for graduate students, professors, epidemiologists, diagnosticians and extension specialists.

The author, renowned educator and bacteriologist Clarence Kado, has organized the book to help the reader understand the emergence of this science. He includes a brief historical account of microbiology that led to the field of plant bacteriology and weaves in discussions of how bacterial pathogens evolved, and how these pathogens are currently classified. This sets a firm base of understanding for the core chapters that follow. The book clearly illustrates the symptoms caused by bacteria in a way that facilitates comprehension of the many different types of plant diseases that they cause. Each symptom type is presented with a detailed example of a causal agent and its characteristics, diagnostics, and mechanisms of virulence and pathogenicity.

Kado also includes an extended discussion on the molecular mechanisms of virulence and a chapter on epidemiology and disease control, giving the reader a current-day understanding of these important concepts. His vision for the future of plant bacteriology and the developments to expect soon will be of interest to all who read this much-anticipated book.