PPWS 5214, Plant Pathology

Spring, Summer, or Fall

Dr. Anton Baudoin

This course is for graduate students interested in learning about plant disease diagnosis, disease "behavior" (disease cycles, epidemiological requirements), and disease management for specific crops (1 credit). Individually, or in small groups, they will study the major diseases of the chosen crops, prepare a notebook, and be evaluated on their individual notebooks in an oral exam (or alternative format for online students). The course will be conducted more or less as an Independent Study, and scheduling will be flexible.

Some previous exposure to plant pathology (an introductory course or equivalent) will be expected, but I do have materials available that will provide enough background for those without prior exposure. Further explanation is available in the introductory online lecture (in Scholar). The Scholar site also contains a “Prerequisites” folder (inside Resources) that contains both a brief introductory “textbook” (PPP or Plant Pathology Primer), and this same material in the form of narrated Powerpoint presentations.Contact me if you want to discuss this further.

Since this will be worth 1 credit, you should expect to spend a total of about 40 hours on this exercise. Try to study those aspects that are most in line with YOUR goals! Below are general suggestions.

Procedure

You may work individually or in small groups (2-3 students) to put together a "notebook" on the most important diseases of a group of crops and their management. You may select the crops, but should go BEYOND what you know already, to make this a useful learning experience. Do not choose TOO narrow a topic.

You may use online references, books, trade publications, extension factsheets, scientific publications, and interaction and correspondence with knoledgeable individuals. You should keep a notebook of all your studies. "Notebook" means that the result does not have to be a formal, typed paper, but that it may be informal and hand-written (if legible). It should be well-organized and include information on:

• The most common and/or important diseases, where they are important, and why they are important.
• How they can be identified (diagnostic symptoms, tests).
• Their disease cycles, including timing of events and conditions allowing or favoring development of disease.
• Specific management prescriptions. For chemical recommendations, find UP-TO-DATE recommendations. Ideally, management prescriptions will be discussed in the context of integration into a program for the crop or cropping system (for example, several crops that comprise a rotation system).
• You may include general sections discussing management approaches; for example, what chemicals are available for use on this crop? what is their relative efficacy and spectrum of activity? what chemical groups do they belong to? what are the limitations on their use (e.g., number of applications or number of pounds per acre per season)? which are prone to development of resistance by target pathogens? etc.
• The sources of your information.

You may include COPIES of selected pages from books, pamphlets, journals, etc. You may also include references to specific parts of books, etc. (For instance, you do not need to include color pictures of disease symptoms, but may instead refer to a source where such pictures may be found).

Even though work in small groups and sharing of sources is encouraged, each of you should prepare your own copy of the notes.

IF YOU FEEL THAT THIS APPROACH DOES NOT MEET YOUR NEEDS, propose an alternative.

The upshot: You may define your own goals, and propose a project to best meet those goals. Come in to discuss your proposals.

MY requirements are:

1. You should learn something that you can relate to your goals.
2. Your topic should not be TOO narrow.

SCHEDULE (specific dates will be in each semester's syllabus; summer session moves faster)

1. Student Goals Statement, Due: about 1 week into the semester (4 points)

Plant pathology includes:

• diagnosis (identifying the causes) of plant diseases, in the broad sense of ANY plant problem.
• study of the "behavior" of plant pathogens, focusing on fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, and related causes.
• selecting and/or designing optimal methods of disease management, based on an understanding of the disease's cause and on the characteristics of the pathogen, the plant, and the plant production system.

In light of this description,

• Describe your perceptions of the possible utility of plant pathology to your career goals and personal interests. In other words, what would you like to learn in this course?
• Briefly describe relevant background and what expertise you may already have in this area.
• Describe the specific goals of your disease notebook. What crops and diseases do you plan to cover. (This may still be changed later.)

Your statement will be evaluated, not on the basis of whether it is "right", but on the basis of whether your perceptions are explained adequately. It should serve as a basis for your choice of "Notebook" topic(s) and activities. Make it the first page of your notebook. I realize that goals may change during the course of the semester, and your goals statement may be amended.

2. Disease Notebook Outline, Due: about 3 weeks into the semester (8 points)

This should include:

• your goals statement (from previous assignment, but may be updated if needed).
• a preliminary table of contents, i.e., a list of crops and diseases (and/or other sections) to be included. You may want to include the reasons for your choices, if not clear from your goals
• Your first disease write-up/summary showing the kinds of information you plan to include for each disease.
• A preliminary reference list, i.e., the sources of information (e.g. books, articles, crop experts, websites) that you have found thus far and plan to use. Find a small selection of general useful sources by clicking here.

Description of grade criteria, problems with SOME goal statements and outlines, and a list of QUESTIONS I usually ask at the FINAL EXAM

3. A brief progress report will be due every two weeks (see note about deadlines at bottom of page). Sometime after the middle of the term, we will conduct a more detailed review of progress to date. (8 points)

4. Disease Notebook Final Copy. Needs to be received by instructor at least 1 day before your oral exam (unless other arrangements have been agreed upon). Appointments need to be arranged by the end of the last full week of classes, with all interviews to be completed by the last day of exams (80 pts)

Evaluation: When you are finished, turn in or send in your notebook and make a 30-minute individual appointment for a final discussion. You will NOT be expected to have memorized everything in your notes, but you (and every member of a group) will be expected to show reasonable familiarity with and UNDERSTANDING of the material covered in your notebooks. I would like to see evidence that you have processed the information. I will also ask you what grade YOU think you deserve based on how much you have learned from this project. See Disease Notebook Grading Criteria in grade criteria, problems with SOME goal statements and outlines, and a list of QUESTIONS

Logistics of the interview: it depends. If we can meet face to face, I would prefer that. But for online students, if that's not possible, let's discuss whether we can do it by telephone, or internet, or whatnot. You will have to provide me with a copy of your materials beforehand.

Please mark all deadlines on your calendar. If you are going to miss a deadline, please negotiate an extension beforehand; this should normally not be difficult, but don't let it slide.