Rot
Rot, the common name of a number of diseases of animals and plants. Rot disease of sheep, which also occurs in other animals and sometimes human beings, is caused by a fluke, a parasitic flatworm, that infests the liver. A bacterial disease of cattle and sheep is called foot rot.
Plants are the victims of innumerable rots caused chiefly by fungi, or molds. Probably all the higher plants are subject to rots of one kind or another, many to a number of rots. A single rot may attack a wide variety of plants. The fungus that causes cotton root rot, for example, is known to infect more than 2,000 kinds of plants. Rots attack seeds, seedlings, and all parts of mature plants.
Rots yearly take a great toll on food and fiber plants. There are no cures for rots, but some may be prevented by the use of fungicides before infection occurs. Other control measures include removing and burning infected plants. Crop rotation is also used.