Izuchenie fiziologo-biokhimicheskikh vzaimootnosheniy, skladyvayushchikhsya v protsesse infektsii mezhdu patogenom i rasteniem-khozyainom, yavlyaetsya vazhneyshim napravleniem problemy ustoychivosti rasteniy k boleznyam, vyzyvaemym patogennymi mikroorganizmami. Ob"ekt issledovaniya fiziologii bol'nogo rasteniya - fitopatosistema, predstavlyayushchaya soboy svoeobraznoe obrazovanie, v kotorom vse komponenty ob"edineny v edinoe tseloe. Kredo fitopatofiziologa zaklyuchaetsya v raz"yasnenii suti patologicheskikh i immunologicheskikh reaktsiy, voznikayushchikh v tkanyakh rasteniy v otvet na zarazhenie patogenom, i ustanovlenie prichin i stepeni vredonosnosti vyzyvaemykh imi bolezney. Prakticheskie zadachi takikh issledovaniy svodyatsya ne k unichtozheniyu patogena, ustraneniyu ego iz fitopatosistemy, a k regulirovaniyu mnogochislennykh svyazey, voznikayushchikh mezhdu organizmami, v storonu umen'sheniya stepeni vredonosnosti patogena. Issledovaniya v etoy oblasti uzhe priveli k sozdaniyu preparatov, deystvuyushchikh ne po printsipu biotsidnosti (gibeli patogena), a cherez stimulyatsiyu sinteza v rasteniyakh veshchestv, snizhayushchikh zhiznesposobnost' patogenov.
