Phytotoxins Produced by Fungi Associated with Grapevine Trunk Diseases

• Main Authors: Antonio Evidente, Jordi Luque, Giuseppe Surico, Alessio Cimmino, Laura Mugnai, Anna Andolfi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2011-12-01
• Series: Toxins
• Subjects: black dead arm; Botryosphaeria canker; esca; Eutypa dieback; eutypiosis; grapevine trunk diseases; phytotoxins; Phaeomoniella; Phaeoacremonium; Fomitiporia
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/3/12/1569/

Up to 60 species of fungi in the Botryosphaeriaceae family, genera Cadophora, Cryptovalsa, Cylindrocarpon, Diatrype, Diatrypella, Eutypa, Eutypella, Fomitiporella, Fomitiporia, Inocutis, Phaeoacremonium and Phaeomoniella have been isolated from decline-affected grapevines all around the World. The main grapevine trunk diseases of mature vines are Eutypa dieback, the esca complex and cankers caused by the Botryospheriaceae, while in young vines the main diseases are Petri and black foot diseases. To understand the mechanism of these decline-associated diseases and the symptoms associated with them, the toxins produced by the pathogens involved in these diseases were isolated and characterised chemically and biologically. So far the toxins of only a small number of these decline fungi have been studied. This paper presents an overview of the toxins produced by the most serious of these vine wood pathogens: Eutypa lata, Phaeomoniella chlamydospora, Phaeoacremonium aleophilum and some taxa in the Botryosphaeriaceae family, and examines how these toxins produce decline symptoms. The chemical structure of these metabolites and in some cases their vivotoxin nature are also discussed.