Studies on various aspects of plant-pathogen interactions have the primary goal
of providing information that may be useful for developing effective crop disease
management systems. Molecular techniques have accelerated the pace of developing
short- and long-term strategies of disease management. The strategies that do
not depend on host genome modification are based on the principles of exclusion
and eradication of pathogens. Molecular methods have played significant role in
precise detection, identification, differentiation and quantification of pathogens in
symptomatic and asymptomatic plant tissues, resulting in prevention by plant quarantines
of introduction of exotic pathogens and elimination of destructive pathogens
in infected plants or planting materials by certification programs. Development of
cultivars with built-in resistance to microbial pathogens is considered as the most
plausible disease management strategy. This approach involves genome modification
by incorporation of resistance gene(s) by conventional breeding methods or
transformation of plants by incorporation of desired genes from diverse sources