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Preface

Plant pathology is an applied science concerned primarily with practical solutions to disease problems in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. The study of plant disease and the development of methods for its control continue to be vital elements in the drive to improve crop productivity and ensure global food security. Projected world population growth and the impacts of climate change make this a priority. From a more strategic perspective, the experimental analysis of the interactions between plants and pathogens has become fertile territory for scientists interested in emerging areas of plant biology, including recognition and response systems, signal pathways, and innate plant immunity. The use of molecular genetic techniques has provided new insights into how pathogens cause disease and how plants defend themselves against attack. In turn, this new understanding is suggesting novel ways in which plant disease might be controlled.

This book provides an introduction to the main elements of plant pathology, including the applied aspects of disease identification, assessment and control, and fundamental studies of host–pathogen interactions. The aim is to place the subject not only in the context of agricultural science but also in the wider spheres of ecology, population biology, cell biology, and genetics. The impact of molecular biology and genomics on the diagnosis and analysis of plant disease is a recurrent theme.

A large number of people have helped me in the production of this new edition. First, I should acknowledge the invaluable help of many of my colleagues at Rothamsted Research who have generously provided advice, assistance, and materials for use in the book. They include Kim Hammond‐Kosack, Jason Rudd, Kostya Kanyuka, Nicola Hawkins, Ana Machado, Bart Fraaije, Jon West, Stephanie Heard, Anastasia Sokolidi, Kevin King, John Jenkyn, Roger Plumb, James Bell, David Hughes, Mike Adams, Graham Shephard, and Sally Murdoch. Joe Helps advised on mathematical modeling as well as replotting data. The library staff, Tim Wales, Catherine Fernhead, and Chris Whitfield, helped with tracing publications and scanning figures. Special thanks are due to Lin Field and Sheila Bishop who supported me as a visiting worker in the Biointeractions and Crop Protection department. Numerous others in the plant pathology and crop protection community have also supplied images, articles, advice, and data for use in figures and tables, including Bruce McDonald, Mike Coffey, George Sundin, Pamela Gan, Richard O'Connell, Petra Boetink, Yaima Arocha‐Rosete, Geert Haesaert, David Cooke, Paul Birch, Diane Saunders, Judith Turner, Moray Taylor, Sarah Holdgate, Nicola Spence, Ana Lopez, Hans Cools, Mike Davey, Jurriaan Ton, Stephen Rolfe, Paul Bowyer, Clive Brasier, Joan Webber, John Mansfield, Lili Huang, Victoria Routledge, Lucy Carson‐Taylor, Jason Pollock, Dierdre Haines, David Whattoff, Graham Matthews, Haydn Beddows, Dennis Gonsalves, and Malcolm Briggs. Thanks go to Holly Regan‐Jones for her skilful copy editing and Dave Gardner who re‐drew many of the Figures. Vimali Joseph provided vital support during the final production process. My appreciation should also be extended to previous colleagues at the University of Nottingham, especially Alison Daniels and the late Brian Case, who took many of the studio photos featured in this edition. Space does not allow me to acknowledge the many other colleagues who agreed to the use of published results.

Finally, thanks are also due to my daughter Maria Gabriella, whose grasp of digital technology greatly exceeds my own, and my wife Adélia, not only for her forbearance throughout the time taken to complete this project but also for her active contribution searching out all manner of useful information on the internet.

John A. Lucas January 2020