Biodiversity, taxonomy and plant disease diagnostics of plant pathogenic fungi from India

Host–Pathogen interaction under favorable environmental variables results in disease syndrome followed by symptom production. There are different symptoms produced by plant pathogenic fungi namely necrosis, hypertrophy and hyperplasia and also hypotrophy and hypoplasia. Identification of the fungal pathogen and their classification is an important aspect to be dealt. Most of the pathogenic fungi are either obligate parasites or biotrophs. Around 13 million of fungi have been estimated and of which only 1,40,000 fungal species have been identified world over. India has got a record of 29,000 fungal species. Since 1/3 of global fungal biodiversity occurs in India, hence there is need to discover the fungi occurring in different ecological niches and also on crop plants. Around 30,000 plant pathogenic fungi have been reported in the world and of which 5000–7000 pathogenic fungi might have occurred on various crop plants and forest plants in India. Early detection of plant pathogenic fungi and diseases diagnosis are the important components that help in disease management. Morpho-taxonomy and molecular tools are employed in the identification of the plant pathogenic fungi. Establishment of relevant disease forecasting systems and models are important for early prediction of the outbreak of plant diseases. In India agriculture forms the backbone for the country’s economy besides offering food security and nutritional security to the growing population. The aspects and prospects related to biodiversity, taxonomy and plant disease diagnostics of plant pathogenic fungi from India are discussed.