Biology With a Purpose: Describing Undergraduate-Level Literacy in Plant Pathology and Plant Pathology Competencies

Plant pathology is required for global food security, ecosystem health, and sustainable agriculture, yet opportunities to study plant pathology are limited. Plant pathology is also an excellent and accessible science for teaching biology, but it is underused in classes such as ecology and microbiology. Describing core concepts required for literacy in plant pathology will aid in advocating for and teaching plant pathology on campuses that currently lack courses in this discipline. Here, we propose a framework for defining undergraduate-level literacy in plant pathology by identifying 12 core concepts derived from analysis of upper-level course syllabi across universities. These core concepts span biological, ecological, social, and humanistic dimensions of plant disease. We also assessed established frameworks such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Vision and Change report and American Society for Microbiology (ASM) curriculum guidelines to help build a call for action to further develop plant pathology curricula and to integrate interdisciplinary and humanistic perspectives into STEM education. In addition, we outlined competencies in plant pathology to illustrate how students could translate concepts into practice across diverse career pathways, including diagnostics, research, consulting, and regulatory roles. This framework is intended to serve as a call to action to further develop instructional resources for teaching plant pathology, to expand access to education in plant pathology, and to further support workforce training through courses, modules, and microcredentials built upon a shared understanding of plant pathology.