Biotic Stress to Plants: Fungal Pathogen as a Major Biotic Stress

Plants are subjected to a variety of stressors during their growth cycle. These stressors had an impact not just on general plant health but also on crop yield. Despite the extensive use of agrochemicals in agriculture, each year crop yield decreases due to losses in crops caused by a variety of stress factors like biotic and abiotic factors. Abiotic stress includes soil pollution, temperature, drought, humidity, and soil water content, among others. Parasites such as viruses, bacteria, insects, and fungi are examples of biotic stressors. Due to their rapid spreading rate and disruptive infection through seeds or by whole plant body, fungal diseases are regarded as one of the leading causes of crop losses among these biotic agents. Fungal diseases can potentially result in a crop yield loss of up to 100%. Several natural, chemical, and biological control techniques for fungal illnesses have been documented. Wilt, Blight, Rust, powdery mildew, and chocolate spot are the most frequent fungal diseases. The current article focuses on diverse biotic stress inducers of plants, with a particular emphasis on fungal infections.