Technical Factsheet

Basic

4 October 2022

Phomopsis vexans (Phomopsis blight of eggplant)

Publication: PlantwisePlus Knowledge Bank

https://doi.org/10.1079/pwkb.species.40488

Identity

Preferred Scientific Name: Phomopsis vexans (Sacc. & P. Syd.) Harter 1914
Preferred Common Name: Phomopsis blight of eggplant
Other Scientific Names: Ascochyta hortorum (Speg.) C.O. Sm. 1905; Diaporthe vexans (Sacc. & P. Syd.) Gratz 1942; Phoma solani Halst. 1892; Phoma vexans Sacc. & P. Syd. 1899; Phyllosticta hortorum Speg. 1881
International Common Names: English
brown spot of eggplant
fruit rot of eggplant
Phomopsis leaf blight
Phomopsis rot of eggplant
stem blight of eggplant
tipover of eggplant; Spanish
Phoma (berenjena); French
pourriture de l'aubergine
pourriture des fruits de l'aubergine
taches foliaires de l'aubergine
Local Common Names: Germany
Blattfleckenkrankheit
Eierfrucht
Eierpflanze Fruchtfaeule
EPPO code: PHOPVE (Phomopsis vexans)

Pictures

Phomopsis vexans
Phomopsis fruit rot (Phomopsis Blight) caused by Phomopsis vexans is one of the major diseases of eggplant.
LSU AgCenter

Phomopsis vexans
David B. Langston, University of Georgia, bugwood.org
Refer to Bugwood: http://www.bugwood.org/ImageUsage.html

Phomopsis vexans
Brian Olson, Oklahoma State University, bugwood.org
Refer to Bugwood: http://www.bugwood.org/ImageUsage.html

Phomopsis vexans
Yuan-Min Shen, Taichung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, bugwood.org
Refer to Bugwood: http://www.bugwood.org/ImageUsage.html

Phomopsis vexans
Gerald Holmes, California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, bugwood.org
Refer to Bugwood: http://www.bugwood.org/ImageUsage.html

Distribution

Host Plants and Other Plants Affected

Host	Host status	References
Prunus armeniaca (apricot)	Unknown	Dal and Sisterna (2000)
Solanum aculeatissimum	Wild host
Solanum incanum (grey bitter-apple)	Wild host
Solanum melongena (aubergine)	Main
Solanum nigrum (black nightshade)	Wild host
Solanum torvum (turkey berry)	Other
Solanum virginianum	Wild host

Symptoms

The symptoms range from poor germination and seedling blight to fruit rot. Post-emergence damping-off of seedlings results from infection of the stem just above the soil surface. The symptoms on leaves are more prominent during the early stages of plant growth. At first the lesions are small, more or less circular, and buff to olive, later becoming cinnamon buff, with an irregular blackish margin (Pawar and Patel, 1957). Irregular spots result from coalescence. After transplanting, leaves coming into contact with the soil may become infected directly or develop leaf spot due to infection by conidia. Lesions on the petiole or the lower part of the midrib can result in death of the entire leaf. Affected leaves may drop prematurely, and the blighted areas become covered with numerous black pycnidia.

On stems and branches, elongated, blackish-brown lesions are formed, eventually containing pycnidia. The diseased plant bears smaller leaves and the axillary buds are often killed. When stem girdling occurs, the shoot above the infected area wilts and dries up and the plant may be toppled by the wind (Edgerton and Moreland, 1921; Pawar and Patel, 1957; Sherf and MacNab, 1986). Pycnidia develop readily in lesions on young stems, but rarely on older ones (Harter, 1914).

On the fruits the symptoms appear first as minute sunken greyish spots with a brownish halo, which later enlarge and coalesce, producing concentric rings of yellow and brown zones. These spots increase in size and form large rotten areas on which conidiomata often develop concentrically, covering most of the rotten fruit surface. Pycnidia on fruit are larger than those on stems and leaves (Harter, 1914). If the infection enters the fruits through the calyx, the whole fruit may become mummified due to dry rot (Pawar and Patel, 1957).

Rot may appear in fruit, in transit after harvest (Sherf and MacNab, 1986).

List of Symptoms/Signs

Symptom or sign	Life stages	Sign or diagnosis
Plants/Fruit/lesions: black or brown
Plants/Fruit/mummification
Plants/Fruit/premature drop
Plants/Leaves/abnormal leaf fall
Plants/Leaves/necrotic areas
Plants/Leaves/wilting
Plants/Leaves/yellowed or dead
Plants/Seeds/discolorations
Plants/Stems/canker on woody stem
Plants/Stems/internal discoloration
Plants/Stems/lodging; broken stems
Plants/Stems/necrosis
Plants/Whole plant/damping off
Plants/Whole plant/dwarfing
Plants/Whole plant/plant dead; dieback
Plants/Whole plant/seedling blight
Plants/Whole plant/uprooted or toppled

Prevention and Control

Prevention

Early Warning Systems

A linear model, based on environmental factors, for predicting Phomopsis blight in aubergines [Solanum melongena] has been developed in India (Islam and Pan, 1992), but is not yet in use. Leaf blight severity was correlated with maximum and minimum temperatures and the number of rainy days.

Control

Cultural Control and Sanitary Measures

Burning of crop debris and burying it by deep ploughing are some of the cultural practices that may help to reduce disease incidence (Singh, 1987). The fungus is also capable of growing well on sterile vegetative structures of a number of other field and garden crops, such as cauliflower petioles, and carrot and beet roots, some of which could then serve to perpetuate the fungus indefinitely (Howard and Desrosiers, 1941). Therefore, the efficacy of crop rotation as a control measure may vary, although a three-year rotation can be useful in reducing initial inoculum (Sherf and MacNab, 1986).

Use of an appropriate nitrogen source at a reduced level with higher rates of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer may increase yield without increasing disease (Sugha and Kumar, 2003).

The pathogen also survives on and in seeds, therefore seeds should be collected from healthy plants and only disease-free seeds should be used.

Chemical Control

Due to the variable regulations around (de-)registration of pesticides, we are for the moment not including any specific chemical control recommendations. For further information, we recommend you visit the following resources:

•

EU pesticides database (http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/eu-pesticides-database/)

•

PAN pesticide database (www.pesticideinfo.org)

•

Your national pesticide guide

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Published online: 4 October 2022

Language

English

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