PLANT PHYTO-CHEMICALS AS ANTI-PLANT FUNGAL AGENTS: A REVIEW

Plant fungi cause massive devastation of croplands. Many plant based epidemics have been traced to fungi which causes great economic hardships. Plant fungi tends to circumvent the plant’s immune system aka pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMP) which triggers PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI) & effector triggered immunity (ETI) defence. However, successful pathogens can overwhelm plant PTI and ETI, with the help of pathogenic genes to defeat host plant’s R-resistance genes thereby causing severe plant diseases. The fungus spores tend to settle on the surfaces of the plants in order to germinate for which favourable conditions are needed including moisture, nutrients and a suitable host. If conditions are not favourable then it is still remains viable while being dormant. Though chemical fungicides have been used for many years but of late there are reports of it being ineffective against new strains of fungi. Moreover, the chemical fungicides are not biodegradable hence is toxic to the environment. This review has attempted to give a brief overview of the plants which have anti-plant fungal role. As a plant extract has many potential anti-plant-fungal with many modes of action, the pesticide industry could produce plant based fungicides on an industrial scale.