Microbes and Plant Diseases

 Brown rot in pear is caused by Monilinia fructicola.Brown rot causes blossom blight, twig blight; twig canker and fruit rot.

 Morchella is an edible ascomycete. These distinctive fungi appear honeycomb-like, with their cap composed of a network of ridges with pits.

Penicillium patulum and Streptomyces venezuelae produce aromatic antibiotics griseofulvin and chloremphenicol, respectively.

Zygomycosis in the debilitated patient is the most acute and fulminate fungal infection known. The disease typically involves the rhino-facial-cranial area, lungs, gastrointestinal tract and skin. It is often associated with acidosis, diabetes, malnourished children, severely burned patients and other diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma.

Patients with primary immunodeficiencies are susceptible to Aspergillus species infections particularly when cell-mediated immunity is compromised.

Candida norvegensis is a very rare clinical isolate that has been reported as a causative agent of peritonitis and disseminated candidiasis in a patient on CAPD.

Pythium insidiosum is the causative agent of swamp cancer, especially in horses, mainly in wet tropical environments. Infections are characterised by tumour-like masses which develop mostly on the legs.

Mortierella wolfii is an important casual agent of bovine mycotic abortion, pneumonia and systemic mycosis. It has also been isolated from soil, rotten silage, hay and coal spoil tips.

It is a rare cause of subcutaneous, sinusitis, endocarditis, peritonitis and disseminated infection in immunosuppressed patients.

Dermatophytosis of the scalp, glabrous skin and nails is caused by dermatophytes which have the ability to utilise keratin as a nutrient source. No living tissue is invaded the keratinised stratum corneum is simply colonised.

This fungi is usually isolated as a saprophytic contaminant. World-wide, it is known as an insect parasite. Sympodial development of single-celled conidia on a narrow geniculate or zig-zag rachis emanating from a flask-shaped conidiophore.

It is a common human pathogen causing pulmonary, rhinocerebral, disseminated, CNS zygomycosis. It is a small pyriform shaped sporangia with a characteristic conical shaped columellae and pronounced apophysis.

It is a mycotic infection of humans and animals caused by a number of different fungi and actinomycetes characterised by draining sinuses, granules and tumefaction. The disease results from the traumatic implantation of the aetiologic agent and usually involves the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue.

Aspergillus parasiticus is a mold known to produce aflatoxins which is a potent liver carcinogen. It is closely related to Aspergillus flavus.

A. flavus is the major producer of carcinogenic aflatoxins in crops worldwide. It is also an opportunistic human and animal pathogen, causing aspergillosis in immunocompromised individuals.