phone: 814-865-3708
Life Sciences Library
408 Paterno Library
Kathy Fescemyer
Title: Life Sciences Librarian
phone: 814-865-3708
Life Sciences Library
408 Paterno Library
Plant Pathology, also called phytopathology, is the study of diseases of plants whether caused by pathogens or environmental conditions. Organisms that may cause infectious diseases in plants include fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, viroids, virus-like organisms, phytoplasmas, protozoa, nematodes and parasitic plants. Also included in this discipline are the identification of pathogens, economic impact, epidemiology, and management and control of plant diseases.
This guide provides links to databases, dictionaries, encyclopedias, web sites and other resources to find authoritative information in the are of plant pathology. Some of the resources will only be accessible to faculty, staff and students of Penn State.
To find research articles on plant pathology use the following databases to find citations, which are also known as references.
Databases To Use:
Don't forget: Try These First if you want general popular interest magazines and newspapers or pro and con debate information.
Already have a citation? Use Citation Linker to see if Penn State has it online or in print!
Article Search Tips
Finding the best articles on your topic requires a number of steps.
Get the full text
Once you find the citation, try the 
button to see if Penn State has the electronic or print version of the article you need. If the electronic version is available, it will appear as the first link on the Get it! menu. If the article is not available electronically, click on The CAT link to automatically search our catalog and see if Penn State has a print copy. If no other copy is available, you use the InterLibrary Loan link to request it from another library.
Use The CAT for finding books owned by Penn State.
CAT Search Tips: The CAT is the list of what is owned by Penn State Libraries.
Go to the Browse function if you are looking for a specific title or author (type last name first).
Go to the Keyword function and combine terms to search on a topic then use the subject headings from relevant books for additional search terms.
Write down the call number and location for any book you want.
For electronic books, click the words "online content" to access the full text.
Quick Guide to Searching the CAT (HTML version) or Quick Guide to Searching in the CAT(easy-print PDF version).
Learn how to refine your search with Savvy Searching in the CAT (html) or easy-print PDF version: Savvy Searching in the CAT.
Suggested CAT Search Terms: Search for organisms (i.e. early blight or Alternia), processes (i.e. cell culture) or concepts (i.e. biological control).
Call Numbers: At University Park, most materials in the life sciences are located on the 4th floor of Paterno Library. Mushroom resources are available in the Kneebone Collection also on the 4th floor of Paterno Library.
General call numbers and subject areas are:
Books Elsewhere: WorldCat
Libraries Borrowing Policies
Once you have the books, check them out at the nearest lending desk or self check-out station. Loan periods are usually four weeks but books can be recalled for another user, so respond promptly to library notices. For more information see the University Libraries Lending Code.
Technical terms may be found in printed dictionaries of agricultural science and Westcott's Plant Disease Handbook, Dictionary of Plant Pathology, Encyclopedia of Plant Pathology, Glossary of Plant-Pathological Terms, and Descriptions of Plant Viruses.
Encyclopedia of Pest Management.
Encyclopedia of Plant & Crop Science
AccessScience provides encyclopedia articles for scientific subjects.
Gale Virtual Reference Library provides encyclopedias in many subject areas. Use this source to find short articles on biological and plant sciences terms.
You may also start looking for a plant pathology topic by using an Internet Search Engine like Google. Or if you are looking for scholarly journal articles use Google Scholar or CAB, Biological Abstracts or AGRICOLA. Here are some other sites that may be useful when searching for plant pathology topics.
APSnet - Plant Pathology Online is an online service from the American Phytopathological Society which contains articles and images.
Common Names of Plant Diseases is a database of plant crop hosts and their diseases, compiled by the Committee on Standardization of Common Names for Plant Diseases of The American Phytopathological Society 1978-2000.
The Consumer Horticulture Center from Penn State's Department of Horticulture provides access to many publications, fact sheets, and other information on planting, growing, and maintaining plants in the garden, home, and landscape.
Digital Diagnostics @ OSU provides images and information on insect pests and diseases on field crops, fruit and nuts, vegetables, turfgrass, ornamentals and houseplants.
E-answers accesses publications from the Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Stations. Over 250,000 pages of full text information is indexed.
Life Sciences Dictionary is maintained from BioTech.
National Plant Germplasm Systepm (NPGS) and Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) are created by a cooperative effort by public and private organizations to preserve the genetic diversity of plants. The entries in GRIN database document information on the germplasm of many economically important plants. (USDA).
New Disease Reports is a reporting service from the British Society for Plant Pathology that describes new and significant plant disease situations.
On-Line Glossary of Technical Terms in Plant Pathology. Glossary of terms in plant pathology and is maintained at Cornell University.
PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens native to the United States and its territories is supplied by the US DA's Natural Resource Conservation Service. Entries include names, plant symbols, checklists, distributional data, species abstracts, characteristics, images, plant links, and references.
Pesticides is the starting point to the web pages of the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs.
Plant Management Network is a unique cooperative resource for the applied plant sciences. The Plant Management Network offers an extensive searchable database comprised of thousands of web-based resource pages from the network's partner universities, companies, and associations. In addition, the network has four peer-reviewed citable journals, Applied Turfgrass Science, Crop Management, Forage and Grazinglands, and Plant Health Progress.
Plant Pathology Internet Guide Book is an authoritative plant pathology link site.
Plant Viruses Online is a virus database with information on host susceptibility and relationships, with electronmicrograph images, DNA sequences, and other information.
Trends in Agriculture provides articles about important events in U.S. agriculture over the past century. (USDA)
The USDA Economics and Statistics System contains nearly 300 reports and datasets. These resources cover U.S. and international agriculture and related topics. (USDA)
Current Research Information System (CRIS) provides short reports of ongoing and recently completed research and education projects in agriculture, food and nutrition, and forestry. Projects are conducted or sponsored by USDA research agencies, state agricultural experiment stations, land-grant universities, other cooperating state institutions, and participants in CSREES-administered grant programs (USDA).
National Agricultural Statistics Service has current and historical statistics with tables on fruit and vegetable production and prices.
AGRIS and CARIS Homepage provides access to several databases focusing on international information for the agricultural sciences and technology. It is created by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The PAN Pesticides Database brings together a diverse array of information on pesticides from many different sources, providing human toxicity (chronic and acute), ecotoxicity and regulatory information for about 5,400 pesticide active ingredients and their transformation products, as well as adjuvants and solvents used in pesticide products.
APSnet WWW Server is an on-line service from the American Phytopathological Society which is the primary association for plant pathologists in the United States.
The American Crop Protection Association is the not-for-profit trade organization representing the major manufacturers, formulators and distributors of crop protection and pest control products, including bioengineered products with crop production and protection characteristics.
The Mycological Society of America is a scientific society dedicated to advancing the science of mycology - the study of fungi of all kinds including mushrooms, truffles, yeasts, plant pathogens, and medically important fungi.
The American Society of Plant Biologists (formerly The American Society of Plant Physiologists) promotes the growth and development of plant biology, to encourage and publish research in plant biology, and to promote the interests and growth of plant scientists in general.
Another resource is Resources for Research Writing and Citation in Plant Pathology created by Marsha Tate at the Hildebrandt Library of the Penn State Plant Pathology Department.
When using information from another source you must give credit to the original author or you are plagiarizing. You give credit by citing the source. Make sure your citation contains everything you would need to backtrack and find the information again. No particular style guide is exclusively used by the plant pathology journals. You might consult Council of Science Editors style.
Plagiarism, whether you copy a paragraph from a book or cut and paste someone else's words from an e-mail, is a violation of Penn State's academic integrity policy. See this Statement on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty.
