Phomopsis vexans (Phomopsis blight of eggplant)
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
- Englishbrown spot of eggplantfruit rot of eggplantPhomopsis leaf blightPhomopsis rot of eggplantstem blight of eggplanttipover of eggplant
- SpanishPhoma (berenjena)
- Frenchpourriture de l'auberginepourriture des fruits de l'auberginetaches foliaires de l'aubergine
- Local Common Names
- GermanyBlattfleckenkrankheitEierfruchtEierpflanze Fruchtfaeule
- EPPO code
- PHOPVE (Phomopsis vexans)
Pictures
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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Copyright
Copyright © CABI. CABI is a registered EU trademark. This article is published under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
History
Published online: 4 October 2022
Language
English
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