What is Blight?
[[File:Fire blight appletree fruit closeup.JPG|thumb|The browned fruit has blight.]] '''Blight''' refers to way [[plants]] [[wikt:wither|wither]] when [[infection|infected]]. It is usually caused by [[Fungus|fungi]], or [[Virus|viruses]], or sometimes by [[bacteria]]. Blight is a rapid and complete chlorosis,<ref>yellowing due to loss of [[chlorophyll]]</ref> browning, then death of plant [[Tissue (biology)|tissue]]s such as leaves, branches, twigs, or flowers.<ref>Agrios, George N. 2005 ''Plant pathology''. 5th ed, Burlington, MA: Elsevier Academic Press.</ref> Various diseases which cause the [[symptom]] are known as '''blights'''. Several notable examples are: * [[Phytophthora infestans|Late blight of potato]], caused by the water [[mould]] ''Phytophthora infestans'', the disease which led to the [[Irish potato famine]] * Southern [[corn]] leaf blight, caused by the [[fungus]] ''Cochliobolus heterostrophus''. This caused a severe loss of corn in the United States in 1970.<ref>Partridge J.E. ''Southern Corn Leaf Blight''. 2003. 8 August 2006. http://nu-distance.unl.edu/homer/disease/agron/corn/CoSCLB.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723184952/http://nu-distance.unl.edu/homer/disease/agron/corn/CoSCLB.html |date=2010-07-23 }}</ref> * [[Chestnut]] blight, caused by the fungus ''Cryphonectria parasitica'' has nearly eradicated mature [[American chestnut]]s in North America. * Bacterial leaf blight of [[rice]] is caused by the bacterium ''Xanthomonas oryzae''.<ref>Oda M. Sekizawa Y. and Watanabe T. 1966. Phenazines as disinfectants against bacterial leaf blight of the rice plant. ''Applied Microbiology'' '''14'''(3):365-367.</ref> * Early blight of potato and tomato, caused by species of the common fungal genus ''Alternaria''. * Leaf blight of grasses. On leaf tissue, symptoms of '''blight''' are the initial appearance of lesions which rapidly engulf surrounding tissue. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Plant physiology]] [[Category:Infectious diseases]]