Blight

Blight

Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. It is simply a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral organs. [Agrios, George N. Plant Pathology. 5th ed. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Academic Press, 2005.] Accordingly, many diseases that primarily exhibit this symptom are called blights. Several notable examples are:
* Late blight of potato, caused by the water mold "Phytophthora infestans" (Mont.) de Bary, the disease which led to the Great Irish Famine
* Southern corn leaf blight, caused by the fungus "Cochliobolus heterostrophus" (Drechs.) Drechs, anamorph "Bipolaris maydis" (Nisikado & Miyake) by the bacterium "Erwinia amylovora" (Burrill) Winslow "et al.", is the most severe disease of pear and also is found in apple and raspberry, among others.
* Bacterial leaf blight of rice, caused by the bacterium "Xanthomonas oryzae" (Uyeda & Ishiyama) Dowson. [Oda, M., Sekizawa, Y., and Watanabe, T. 1966. "Phenazines as Disinfectants Against Bacterial Leaf Blight of the Rice Plant." Applied Microbiology 14(3):365-367.]

* Early blight of potato and tomato, caused by species of the ubiquitous fungal genus "Alternaria"
*Leaf blight of the grassesOn leaf tissue, symptoms of blight are the initial appearance of lesions which rapidly engulf surrounding tissue. However, leaf spot may, in advanced stages, expand to kill entire areas of leaf tissue and thus exhibit blight symptoms!

References


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Synonyms:
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  • blight — blight; blight·ed; blight·er; blight·ing; blight·ing·ly; un·blight·ed·ly; …   English syllables

  • Blight — (bl[imac]t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Blighted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Blighting}.] [Perh. contr. from AS. bl[=i]cettan to glitter, fr. the same root as E. bleak. The meaning to blight comes in that case from to glitter, hence, to be white or pale, grow… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • blight — [blīt] n. [? akin to ME blichening, blight, rust (on grain) < bliknen, to lose color < ON blikja, turn pale: see BLEACH] 1. any atmospheric or soil condition, parasite, or insect that kills, withers, or checks the growth of plants 2. any of …   English World dictionary

  • Blight — Blight, v. i. To be affected by blight; to blast; as, this vine never blights. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Blight — Blight, n. 1. Mildew; decay; anything nipping or blasting; applied as a general name to various injuries or diseases of plants, causing the whole or a part to wither, whether occasioned by insects, fungi, or atmospheric influences. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • blight — blīt n Austral an inflammation of the eye in which the eyelids discharge a thick mucous substance that often seals them up for days and minute granular pustules develop inside the lid called also sandy blight …   Medical dictionary

  • blight — n blast, nip (see under BLAST vb) Analogous words: *injury, damage, hurt, harm: frustration, thwarting (see corresponding verbs at FRUSTRATE) blight vb *blast, nip Analogous words: *injure, damage, hurt, harm, s …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • blight — [n] disease; plague affliction, bane, blot on the landscape*, canker, contamination, corruption, curse, decay, dump, evil, eyesore, fungus, infestation, mildew, pest, pestilence, pollution, rot, scourge, sight, withering, woe; concepts 306,674… …   New thesaurus

  • blight — ► NOUN 1) a plant disease, especially one caused by fungi. 2) a thing that spoils or damages something. 3) ugly or neglected urban landscape. ► VERB 1) infect (plants) with blight. 2) spoil or destroy. ORIGIN …   English terms dictionary

  • blight|ed — «BLY tihd», adjective. afflicted with blight; blasted: »A blighted spring makes a barren year (Samuel Johnson). Figurative. A blighted area is a district of a city that is on the way toward becoming a slum (Emory S. Bogardus) …   Useful english dictionary

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