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Passionfruit Phytophthora rot (154) Print Fact Sheet

Common Name

Fruit rot, Phytophthora blight

Scientific Name

Phytophthora nicotianae; previously, Phytophthora nicotianae pv. parasitica. Note that in Fiji Phytophthora cinnamomi has also been reported as the cause of collar rot.

Distribution

Worldwide. Phyophthora nicotianae is recorded from passionfruit from Fiji, Papua New Guinea (seedlings), Samoa, and Tonga. Phytophthora nicotianae is also reported from American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and Wallis & Futuna on other hosts (see Fact sheet nos. 149, 157 & 264).

Hosts

Passionfruit, cultivated and wild. Note, this is the same oomycete that causes a similar disease on tomato (root rot, and a firm dark fruit rot; see Fact Sheet no. 157), and also attacks capsicum, citrus (see Fact Sheet no. 264), papaya (see Fact Sheet no. 152), pineapple, and tobacco.

Symptoms & Life Cycle

The disease is caused by a species of Phytophthora; it is an oomycete or water mould, not a fungus. Although they look like fungi, Phytophthora species are related to algae.

The disease is severe on young buds and leaves, causing blackening and death; light brown patches occur on older leaves. Vines can lose most of their leaves. On the stems, rots are purple at first, and later brown (Photo 1). If the rots circle the stems, the leaves wilt and the vines collapse and die. On fruit, grey-green areas occur mainly near the tips, later turning light brown (Photo 2). In wet weather, the rots are covered with white fungal growth. Roots are also attacked and rot.

The water mould lives in the soil. Spores develop there and in heavy rain they are splashed onto the leaves, stems and fruit. Further spread occurs when spores develop on buds and leaves and these are moved in wind-blown rain to other parts of the plant, and then throughout the plantation.

Impact

Depending on rainfall, the disease spreads quickly causing plants to wilt and die. In Samoa, it is a disease of passionfruit in the wet mountainous areas. Rots of 70% of the fruit have been reported after heavy rainstorms.

Detection & inspection

Look for a blight of buds and young leaves, and light brown patches on older leaves and fruits. Infections start near the ground. Look for rots on the stems, purple at first, and then light brown. Look for plants that wilt from stem or root rots.

Management

CULTURAL CONTROL
Cultural control is particularly important in the management of this disease:

RESISTANT VARIETIES
The yellow (or golden) passionfruit is resistant to Phytophthora and should be used as a rootstock. Make sure that the graft is at least 30 cm above soil level to reduce the chance that soil splash will reach the leaves, stems and fruit.

CHEMICAL CONTROL
Where this disease is present - in countries that are hot and have high rainfall - chemical control may be required to obtain an acceptable crop. If fungicides are needed, use sprays of copper or mancozeb. Phosphorous acid is used in Australia under a minor-use permit either as a preventive spray (every 5-6 weeks) or curative spray (every 3 weeks).


AUTHOR Grahame Jackson
Information (and Photo 2) from Gerlach WWP (1988) Plant diseases of Western Samoa. Samoan German Crop Protection Project, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) Gmbh, Germany. Photo 1 Diseases of vegetable crops in Australia (2010). Editors, Denis Persley, Tony Cooke, Susan House. CSIRO Publishing.

Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project PC/2010/090: Strengthening integrated crop management research in the Pacific Islands in support of sustainable intensification of high-value crop production, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.



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