4.3.3.1 Detection and Identification of Plant Diseases Flashcards
1
Q
Mineral deficiency:
A
- Situation where a plant cannot get enough of a particular mineral from the soil for healthy growth
- Different minerals are needed for different reasons as each one provides different symptoms of mineral deficiency
2
Q
How can mineral deficiencies be stopped (externally) in plants?
A
Extra minerals can be provided through fertilisers to stop mineral deficiencies
3
Q
What are the different mineral deficiencies in plants?
A
- Nitrate deficiency
- Phosphate/Phosphorous deficiency
- Potassium deficiency
- Magnesium deficiency
4
Q
Symptoms of nitrate deficiency in plants:
A
- Poor growth
- Yellow leaves
5
Q
Symptoms of phosphate/phosphorous deficiency in plants:
A
- Poor root growth
- Discoloured leaves
6
Q
Symptoms of potassium deficiency in plants:
A
- Poor growth of fruits and flowers
- Discoloured leaves
7
Q
Symptoms of magnesium deficiency in plants:
A
- Yellow leaves - as magnesium is needed to make chlorophyll and a deficiency of it means the leaves won’t be green
- less chlorophyll means less efficient photosynthesis so less glucose made so less glucose available to build proteins so less proteins and less growth
8
Q
How do plants absorb minerals?
A
- Plants can only absorb soluble minerals (those that can dissolve in water)
- They absorb minerals dissolved in solution from the soil through their root hair cells
- The concentration of minerals in the soil is very low
- Minerals can’t be absorbed by osmosis as this is the movement of only water molecules
- Cannot be absorbed by diffusion, because minerals are in very low concentration
- Active transport used to absorb mineral
- Root hair cells have carrier molecules on their cell membrane
- The carrier molecules pick up the mineral ions and move them across the membrane into the cell going against the concentration gradient
9
Q
How can the identification of plant diseases be made?
A
- Reference to gardening manual or website
- Taking infected plants to a laboratory to identify the pathogen
- Using testing kits that contain monoclonal antibodies
10
Q
How can plants be infected?
A
By a range of viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens as well as by insects
11
Q
Plants can be damaged by a range of iron deficiency conditions, which are:
A
- Stunted growth caused by nitrate deficiency
- Chlorosis caused by magnesium deficiency
