Impact of Seed-Borne Pathogens on Subtropical and Tropical Crops

Abstract

A diversity of crops are cultivated by sowing seeds in subtropical and tropical regions. They are food crops (rice, maize, sorghum), oil crops (soybean, sunflower, sesame), vegetables (carrot, celery, onion, pepper, tomato, eggplant, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, beans), beverage crops (cacao, coffee), fiber crop (cotton) and luxury crop (tobacco). Many important diseases of these crops are mainly caused by either seed-borne fungal, bacterial, or viral pathogen. These seed-home pathogens are able to reduce the yield of seed (e.g. Sphacelotheca cruenta, onion yellow dwarf virus), reduce the yield (Xanthomonas oryzae, tobacc mosaic virus), reduce the quality of crops (e.g. Alternaria brassicicola), spread the disease (e.g. Alternaria dauci, Peronosclerospora sorghi, Clavibacter michiganense), reduce the emergence (e.g. Alternaria helianthi, Diplodia maydis), fallow the land (e.g. Sclerotium cepivorum), predispose plant to other pathogens (e.g. Botryodiplodia theobromae + Calonectria rigidiuscula), and cause storage loss (e.g. Septoria apiicola, Colletotrichum piperatum, Erwinia carotovora).