Plant Pathology & Weed Science

Plant diseases, pathogens, nematodes and weeds - and how to control them.

Plant pathology studies the fungi, bacteria, viruses, phytoplasmas and nematodes that cause crop diseases: how they infect plants, how epidemics develop, and how plants defend themselves at the molecular level.

Weed science covers the biology and ecology of weeds and their management - herbicides, mechanical and cultural control, and the growing problem of herbicide resistance. Both disciplines increasingly combine several control methods in integrated approaches rather than relying on a single one.

Studying plant pathology & weed science

Degree programs in this subject often run under these names:

What you typically learn

  • Plant pathogens: fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes
  • Weed biology and weed management
  • Integrated pest management
  • Chemical, biological and cultural control methods
  • Diagnostics and epidemiology
  • Pesticide regulation and application

Where graduates typically work

  • Plant protection advisory and extension
  • Crop protection and biological control companies
  • Plant health and quarantine authorities
  • Diagnostic laboratories
  • Research on resistance and disease management

Curricula differ by country and institution - the program pages linked below have the details.

Where to study plant pathology & weed science

117 programs in 54 countries. See all 117 programs

Where research is heading

Typical research questions

  • How do pathogens overcome plant resistance, and how durable is resistance in the field?
  • How can disease outbreaks be forecast from weather and monitoring data?
  • How does herbicide resistance evolve in weed populations, and how can it be slowed?
  • Which combinations of chemical, biological and cultural control are most effective?

Publications per year

Papers whose main topic belongs to this field, 2010–2025.

0 20k 40k2010: 24,74920102011: 25,2182012: 26,6032013: 27,2132014: 28,3452015: 28,71620152016: 29,4382017: 29,9642018: 30,5472019: 33,1532020: 32,00020202021: 33,0862022: 32,7922023: 31,9562024: 30,8062025: 36,7672025

Research fronts: fastest-growing topics

Papers 2024–2025 compared with 2021–2022, topics with at least 500 recent papers.

Topic2021–20222024–2025Change
Fungal Plant Pathogen Control[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]3,7794,925+30%
Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]14,88419,288+30%
Plant and fungal interactions[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]847978+15%
Allelopathy and phytotoxic interactions[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]1,6951,854+9%
Plant Pathogens and Resistance[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]2,1672,352+9%
Plant Disease Management Techniques[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]1,8531,975+7%

Largest topics

By number of papers 2024–2025.

  1. Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 19,288
  2. Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 10,310
  3. Weed Control and Herbicide Applications[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 6,305
  4. Plant Virus Research Studies[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 5,404
  5. Fungal Plant Pathogen Control[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 4,925
  6. Nematode management and characterization studies[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 4,568

Highly cited recent papers

Most-cited articles and reviews published 2024–2025. Citation counts favor reviews and papers published early in the window.

  1. An Improved Grading System for Measuring Plant Diseases James G. Horsfall, Raymond W. Barratt · Phytopathology · 2025 · 875 citations
  2. The plant immune system: From discovery to deployment Jonathan D. G. Jones, Brian J. Staskawicz, Jeffery L. Dangl · Cell · 2024 · 562 citations · Open access
  3. Harnessing the plant microbiome for sustainable crop production Stéphane Compant, Fabricio Cassán, TANJA M. KOSTIC et al. · Nature Reviews Microbiology · 2024 · 386 citations
  4. Soil phosphorus transformation and plant uptake driven by phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms Pang Fei, Qing Li, Manoj Kumar Solanki et al. · Frontiers in Microbiology · 2024 · 326 citations · Open access
  5. Bacterial indole-3-acetic acid: A key regulator for plant growth, plant-microbe interactions, and agricultural adaptive resilience Hassan Etesami, Bernard R. Glick · Microbiological Research · 2024 · 308 citations · Open access
  6. PTI‐ETI synergistic signal mechanisms in plant immunity Xiaoqian Yu, Hao‐Qiang Niu, Chao Liu et al. · Plant Biotechnology Journal · 2024 · 273 citations · Open access

All study programs in plant pathology & weed science

All study programs