Plant Pathology

Diseases and Symptoms (Agrios, 1997)

1. Anthracnose a disease that appears as black sunken lesions on, leaves, stems, or fruits
caused by a fungus.
2. Blight a disease characterized by general and rapid killing of leaves, flowers and
stems.
3. Blotch a disease characterized by large, and irregular in shape, spots or blots on
leaves, flowers and stems.
4. Canker a necrotic, often sunken lesion on a leaf, stem, branch, or twig of a plant.
5. Chlorosis - yellowing of normally green tissue due to chlorophyll destruction or
failure of chlorophyll formation.
6. Damping-Off destruction of seedlings near the soil line, resulting in the seedlings
falling over on the ground.
7. Dieback progressive death of shoots, branches and roots generally starting at the tip.
8. Downy Mildew a plant disease in which the sporangiosphores and spores of the
fungus appear as a downy growth on the lower surface of the leaves and
stems, fruit, etc., caused by fungi in the family Peronosporaceae.
9. Enation tissue malformation or overgrowth induced by certain virus infections.
10. Gall a swelling or overgrowth produced on a plant as a result of infection by certain
pathogens.
11. Hyperlasia a plant overgrowth due to increased cell division.
12. Hypertrophy a plant overgrowth due to abnormal cell enlargement.
13. Leaf Spot a self-limiting lesion on the leaf.
14. Local Lesion a localized spot produced on a leaf upon mechanical inoculation with
a virus.
15. Mildew a disease of plants in which the mycelium and spores of the fungus are seen
as whitish growth on the host surface.
16. Mold any profuse or wooly fungus growth on damp or decaying matter or on
surfaces of plant tissue.
17. Mosaic symptoms of certain viral diseases of plants characterized by intermingled
patches of normal and light green or yellowish color.
18. Mottle an irregular pattern of indistinct light and dark areas.
19. Mummification drying and shriveling of fruit.
20. Necrotic dead and discolored.
21. Ringspot circular area of chlorosis with a green center; a symptoms of many viral
diseases.
22. Rosette short, bunchy habit of plant growth.
23. Rot the softening, discoloration, and often disintegration of succulent plant tissue as
a result of fungal or bacterial infection.
24. Rust a disease giving a rusty appearance to a plant and caused by one of the
Uredinales (rust fungi).
25. Scab a roughened, crust-like diseased area on the surface of a plant organ; a disease
in which such areas form.
26. Scorch burning of leaf margins as a result of infection or unfavorable
environmental conditions.
27. Shot-Hole a symptoms in which small, diseased fragments of leaves fall off and
leaves small holes in their place.
28. Smut a disease caused by the smut fungi (Ustilaginales); it is characterized by masses
of dark, powdery and sometimes odorous spores.
29. Soft Rot a rot of fleshy fruit, vegetable or ornamental in which the tissue becomes
macerated by the enzyme of the pathogen.

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30. Sooty Mold a sooty coating on foliage and fruit formed by the dark hyphae of fungi that
live on the honeydew secreted by insects such as aphids, mealybugs, scales,
and whiteflies.
31. Stem-Pitting a symptom of some viral diseases characterized by depressions on the stem of
the plant.
32. Tumor an uncontrolled overgrowth of tissue or tissues.
33. Wilt loss of rigidity and drooping of plant parts generally caused by insufficient water in the
plant.
34. Witches Broom broom-like growth or massed proliferation caused by the dense clustering
of branches of woody plants.
35. Yellows a plant disease characterized by yellowing and stunting of the host plant.
Dr. Clare R. Baltazar is National Scientist
No less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo conferred the rank and title of National Scientist to Dr.
Clare R. Baltazar, Professor Emeritus of Entomology, for her valuable contribution to entomology,
agriculture, and science in general during a simple ceremony in Malacaang on September 4, 2001.
Dr. Baltazar was recognized for her pioneering works in systematic entomology; scientific discoveries and
naming of over a hundred new species and nine new genera of parasitic wasps, which are important
natural control agents of insect pests; and numerous publications on Philippine insects. She is cited for
her extraordinary intellect and dedication as a university professor, researcher, scientific journal editor,
administrator and for being the first Filipina entomologist.
Dr. Baltazar began her professional career at the Department of Entomology as Assistant Instructor in
1947 after obtaining her B. S. Agriculture degree major in Entomology (summa cum laude). She received
her M.S. in Entomology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1950 and her Ph.D. in Entomology
from the North Carolina State College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1957. Dr. Baltazar also
worked at the Bureau of Plant Industry (1953-68) and the National Institute of Science and Technology
(1968-75).
Her numerous awards included the B.M. Gonzales Presidential Pin for graduating summa cum laude at
UPCA, U.P. Fellowship and Fulbright Scholarship, Jose Rizal Pro Patria Award in Entomology, L. B.
Uichanco Memorial Award to the Most Outstanding Entomologist and Distinguished Alumnus Award. She
was one of the 100 First Filipino Women chosen by the Philippine-American Foundation in 1998.
Among her significant works/publications were those of Philippine Pumplini, Poemeniini, Rhyssini and
Xoridini (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Pimplinae); a study of local specimens in the above four tribes;
books entitled Genera of Parasitic Hymenoptera in the Philippines; Catalogue of Philippine
Hymenoptera; Philippine Insects - An Introduction; and Inventory of Philippine Insects.
For all her contributions in entomology, Dr. Baltazar has been considered by her peers as the Mother of
Philippine Entomology. (H. T. Facundo/A. L. Lantican)
New mite pests recorded in the Philippines
Three species of mite pests are reported for the first time from the Philippines, namely,
Steneotarsonemus pallidus (Banks) (Tarsonemidae), Eotetranychus lewisi (McGregor) (Tetranychidae),
and Tetranychus urticae Koch (Tetranychidae). All three species infest strawberries in Benguet province.
E. lewisi also infests poinsettia in Benguet and T. urticae is a more widespread pest of roses and
chrysanthemums. Specimens studied originated from commercial gardens in the provinces of Benguet,
Laguna and Cavite.

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Steneotarsonemus pallidus (Banks) is reportedly a destructive pest of strawberries and a number of

ornamental plants. According to Jeppson et al. (1975), infested strawberry leaves appear roughened and
wrinkled on upper leaf surface, the leaf margins become irregularly folded and fluted, and the veins bulge
upward like blisters. Mildly injured plants appear dense because the petioles fail to elongate while those
with severe symptoms are dwarfed at the crown and have small leaflets that fail to unfold completely.
Flowers and young fruits are also infested and the bases of their sepals turn brown to black and
Specimens of Eotetranychus lewisi (McGregor) poinsettia were tentatively identified by Dr. E.W. Baker in
1983 during one of his visits to the Philippines. Study of these specimens confirms this identity and they
appear conspecific with spider mites now regarded as a pest of strawberries.
Specimens of Tetranychus urticae Koch collected from roses were variably greenish or yellowish to
reddish, with large, dark green spots on either side of idiosoma. On chrysanthemum, the specimens were
all greenish while the color of those from strawberry was not recorded. Los Baos specimens on roses
were also green. Damage of T. urticae on roses consists of the typical mottled appearance of leaves
caused by spider mites in general. Heavy infestation results in yellowing and drying of entire leaves, then
their premature fall (Cadatal and Cadapan 1996). This report of T. urticae on roses now brings to four
species the number of spider mites infesting this crop in the Philippines. (L.C. Raros)
References:
CADATAL TD, CADAPAN EP. 1996. Regulation of spider mite (Tetranychus sp.) population on roses.
Philipp. Ent. 10(2): 195-201.
JEPPSON LR, KEIFER HH, BAKER EW. 1975. Mites injurious to economic plants. Berkeley: University of
California Press. 614 p, 74 pl.

PRIDE OF THE ILOCOS

Rimando: Savant, teacher, editor

and artist all rolled into one
By Sosimo Ma. Pablico, Northern Luzon Bureau
SELDOM is there a man who is a scientist, teacher, editor and artist rolled into one. One
such person is Prof. Leo C. Rimando, a native of Naguilian, La Union, who has become
recognized for his excellent performance in these four roles.
Now a retired professor of the University of the Philippines at Los Baos, Leo, as he is
known to his relatives and peers, is still very much a scientist as he continues to write and
publish scientific articles on acarology, which is his first and last love. One writer said:
Acarology is Leos legacy to Philippine science.
Rimando is recognized as the father of acarology in the Philippines. It was after finishing
the bachelors degree in agriculture from the UP College of Agriculture (UPCA) in 1956, that
his love for the study of mites started.
It all began when he accompanied Dr. John C. Matthysse, a visiting professor from Cornell
University in New York, who went to the UPCA under a UPCA-Cornell Contract, on mitecollecting trips.
With the interest that he developed in mites, he pursued a Master of Science in the

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University of California, Berkeley, with acarology as a field of specialization. He attended

the 1957 Summer Institute of Acarology at the University of Maryland before starting his
graduate work at Berkeley.
For his masteral thesis, Rimando did a taxonomic study on Philippine Tetranychoidea or
spider mites and related phytophagous mites, using the collections of Matthysse who
brought them to Dr. A. Earl Pritchard at Berkeley when he returned to the United States.
Dr. Leonila A. Corpuz-Raros of UPLB wrote thus about this work of Rimando: This work was
published in 1962 as UPCA Technical Bulletin No. 11 after Leos return from his graduate
studies. It has become significant not only for the Philippines but also for most of Southeast
Asia and other parts of the region, because many of the species he described eventually
turned out to be widely distributed. Some have even earned the reputation of being pests
of crops especially citrus.
Rimando has published nine taxonomic papers on mites, in addition to his other papers on
scale insects and other entomological topics. Corpuz-Raros wrote thus in The Philippine
Entomologist of which Rimando was its founding editor in chief:
In these taxonomic papers, he described 43 species, mostly as senior author, and erected
seven new genera, one tribe and one subfamily. Among his acarological discoveries, the
genus Aponychus is perhaps the most famous, since this is now known to occur not only in
the Philippines but almost worldwide with 21 species described under or transferred to it
from other genera.
Following are samples of the mites discovered and named after Rimando: Amblyseius calorai
Corpuz and Rimando (1996), Exothorhis damortis Rimando and Corpuz-Raros (1966),
Eustigmaeus baguioensis Rimando and Corpuz-Raros (1997), Wooderia philippica Rimando
and Corpuz-Raros (1990), Aponychus corpusae Rimando (1966), Eotetranychus cendanai
Rimando 1962), Oligonychus velascoi Rimando, and Tenuipalpus orilloi Rimando (1962) and
Tetranychus umalii Rimando.
It could be noted that he named some of the mites he discovered after men of science in
the UPCA like Dr. Dioscoro L. Umali, Dr. Faustino T. Orillo, Dr. Jose Velasco, Dr. Silverio
Cendaa, Dr. Claire Baltazar, Dr. Feliciano Calora and Dr. Matthysse.
As a mentor, Rimando instituted acarology as well as insect morphology and insect
taxonomy as formal course offerings of the Department of Entomology immediately after
returning to the UPCA from Berkeley. Because of his excellent ability to lecture on his
subject, he was able to encourage several entomology major students to work on mites for
their thesis researches.
In his honor, his former students named one mosquito species, six mites and three spiders
after him. Among them are: Phytoseius rimandoi Corpuz (1966), Pronematus rimandoi
Salviejo (1969), Rimandocepheus leoi Corpuz-Raros (1998), Tetragnatha rimandoi Barrion
1998).
In the early 1970s when the College of Sciences and Humanities I (now the College of Arts
and Sciences) was established as a unit of the newly established autonomous UPLB,

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Rimando led in organizing the Department of Life Sciences (now the Institute of Biological
Sciences) and played a key role in establishing the Bachelor of Science in Biology program.
Again, Corpuz-Raros has this to say about Rimando: Together with a core of young
instructors whom he personally recruited and trained to teach basic biology as an integrated
and investigative field, he developed other basics of biology with particular strengths in
genetics, microbiology and molecular biology. He handled two general biology courses,
which are required as general education courses for most curricular programs of UPLB, and
developed the lecture syllabi and laboratory manuals for these courses.
His prowess as a teacher blossomed as a biology teacher, and students remember him as
the best teacher they ever had. He is also revered as the best teacher among entomology
students. Leo, the acarologist and entomologist, is the systematist who dared and braved
the much greater challenges of a biology teacher. The biology program he developed is
another legacy he left to the university at large.
In 1967, Rimando helped put out The Philippine Entomologist, the scientific journal of the
Philippine Association of Entomologists, which has become the flagship journal by which the
international scientific community can gauge developments in Philippine entomology.
Meanwhile, his interests and talent as an artist reflect the broadness and roundedness of his
being, unparalleled among men of science. To some extent, his science suffered from
these other interests, but these, too, added to the transformation of the UPLB academe
from the cow college image it was deridingly accorded by the urban academe, to the more
refined, more cultured milieu we now take pride in being a part of, Corpuz-Raros wrote.
As an artist, he has served as an actor, director and technical consultant of 25 plays staged
in Los Baos and Metro Manila. In addition, he has written five plays for stage, including
Salidumay, East of Eden, The Loves of Imay, Batingaw and Ang Tao sa Ibaba.
Some of the plays he directed or wrote expressed another facet of Leos life and philosophy
as Filipino nationalist, Corpuz-Raros added. Shortly before and during martial rule under
Marcos, the theatre became his medium by which to express dissent and nationalist
advocacies. Leo actively participated in progressive cultural groups, organizing poor sectors
including urban laborers and farmers, and working with them in their struggle to survive
decently as Filipinos and as human beings.
In recognition of his achievements as a scientist and mentor, Rimando received the L.B.
Uichanco Memorial Award for Outstanding Entomologist from the PAE and the Outstanding
Alumnus Award for Teaching from the UPCA Alumni Association.

PRIDE OF THE ILOCOS

UPLB prof known internationally

as an expert on plant virology
By Sosimo Ma. Pablico, Northern Luzon Bureau
DR. Narciso B. Bajet is a plant pathologist with a proven research track record as well as

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commitment to excellence. He is internationally recognized as an expert in plant virology

(the study of viral diseases of plants) and applied immunology.
Nars, as he is called by colleagues and friends, is a full professor of plant pathology at the
UP Los Baos College of Agriculture and a member of the UPLB graduate faculty. He is also
an affiliate faculty member of the Microbiology Laboratory of the UPLB College of Arts and
Sciences as well as an affiliate researcher at the Institute of Plant Breeding and National
Crop Protection Center.
This native of Santa, Ilocos Sur, obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in plant
pathology from UPLB. He did postdoctoral fellowships at the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) and the Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maize y Trigo (CIMMYT) in
Mexico.
He rejoined the UPLB in 1989 as assistant professor and rose through the ranks in no time
because of his diligence, patience, perseverance and the quality of his work.
Most of Bajets professional activities have revolved around the identification, development
and improvement of diagnosis as well as the management of a number of major plant virus
diseases in the Philippines. His work has contributed greatly to the improvement of the
countrys agricultural productivity.
Among his many achievements are the establishment of virus antisera banks and the
development of plant virus detection prototypes. These are now being used for the
establishment and maintenance of virus-free planting stocks, rare collections, germ plasm
improvement, and the implementation of laws of the land.
For instance, Bajets antisera and detection kits for Cymbidium mosaic protexvirus and
Odontoglossum ringspot tobamovirus are now being used by a number of orchid growers,
nurseries and research laboratories in the Philippines for establishing and maintaining virusfree planting stocks of rare collections of orchid germplasm. Among the users are
Fuentespina Orchid Farms in Davao City, Corleon Corp. in Padre Burgos, Batangas, and the
National Seed Foundation in UPLB.
The Del Monte Co. also uses Bajets kit for papaya ringspot protyvirus to detect and
diagnose the papaya ringspot disease as well as improve and expand its papaya germplasm
collection in order to enhance its commercial papaya operations. This company uses papaya
in canned fruit cocktails.
On the other hand, the Plant Disease Laboratory of the Bureau of Plant Industry in BagoOshiro, Davao City, uses Bajets antiserum for mapping the spread of the disease in
Mindanao, thereby providing scientific basis of local quarantine.
The BPI Plant Quarantine Service also used Bajets banana bract mosaic potyvirus antiserum
and kit in establishing the presence of the disease in southern Mindanao in January 2000.
The BPI laboratory in Davao City now uses the antiserum in evaluating banana germplasm

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in its collection.
Likewise, three regional offices and laboratories of the Fiber Industry Development Authority
(FIDA) use Bajets antisera and detection kits for abaca bunchy top, abaca mosaic and bract
mosaic virus diseases to provide abaca farmers with certified virus-free planting materials
through tissue culture and in rapid screening of abaca germplasm for resistance to the
diseases.
These antisera and detection kits are also being used for mapping these viral diseases in
major abaca plantation areas in the country, in aid of decisions for the prioritization or
rationalization of eradication efforts.
The rice tungro ELISA technology that he developed in 1985 with IRRI colleagues has been
a cornerstone of IRRIs rice tungro research on diagnosis and detection, epidemiology and
breeding work. IRRI has trained Asian researchers on this technology, including those at the
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).
Nars has published at least 35 research papers, mostly on plant virology and applied
immunology, in peer-reviewed journals in the Philippines and other countries as well as
semi-technical publications. Three of them have won best paper and best poster awards
from the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR).
He has been a member of technical teams that identified, set and prioritized the national
research, development and extension agenda for fiber crops and biotechnology. Also, he has
been a member of the BAR technical teams tasked to evaluate project proposals in terms of
their objectives, manageability and attainability, relevance and possible impact of expected
outputs.
Moreover, he has successfully secured funding from international and Philippine government
line agencies for research, development and application of immunology and molecular
biology for plant virus detection and disease diagnosis.
Among the awards he has received are: the Eusebio Y. Garcia Memorial Award in Molecular
Biology from the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP); G.O. Ocfemia
Outstanding Plant Pathologist Award from the Philippine Phytopathological Society;
Natatanging Siyentista Gawad Saka Award from BAR; and the Gabriela Silang Award as an
outstanding son of his hometown in Santa.
He has also held two professorial chairs in plant pathology. These are the RS Benedicto
professorial chair and the Juan Ponce Enrile professorial chair in recognition of his
expertise. In the University of the Philippines, only those with recognized expertise in their
field of specialization are qualified to hold professorial chairs.
Other recognitions received by Bajet are: the Rockefeller Foundation rice bitotechnology
career fellowship; visiting research professorship at the Tokyo University of Agriculture
which was given by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS); visiting research
scientist grant at the Queensland Department of Primary Industries from the Australian
Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR); and travel grants from the Peoples
Republic of China (PROC) Ministry of Science and Technology, European Commission,

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International Atomic Energy Agency and the Rockefeller Foundation.

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