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Apple blotch disease (Marssonina coronaria (Ellis & Davis) Davis) – review and research prospects

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Abstract

Apple blotch, caused by Marssonina coronaria, is a serious and widely distributed fungal disease that causes huge losses to apple production especially in South and East Asia. The pathogen causes black spots on apple fruits, leaves and premature defoliation, resulting in weakened physiological balance of the host, reduced tree vigor and decreased yield. It is not clear when the pathogen first occurred in Europe but the disease has become increasingly important in Europe due to its unexpected occurrences in European organic orchards in the last decade. Hence, information on the pathogen host range and geographical distribution, symptoms, biology and disease cycle, as well as epidemiology is vital in developing control strategies. Only the asexual stage of the pathogen has been observed in Europe to date. Therefore, mating and sexual recombination mechanism of the pathogen as well as its overall evolutionary potential is unknown. Altogether, population genetics, importance of primary inoculum, overwintering and the time point of disease outbreak are less researched issues of this pathogen. Host resistance is thought to be the most reliable means to prevent the further spread of this pathogen in organic orchards. However, knowledge about the disease and its interaction with the host is a prerequisite for breeding durable resistant apple cultivars. This review highlights the information available from previous research on M. coronaria and its occurrence on apple.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Andreas Peil and Viola Hanke (Julius Kühn-Institut) for proofreading the manuscript. We also thank Michel Giraud (CTIFL), Jan Hinrichs-Berger (LTZ Augustenberg), Hans Scheinpflug, Beatrice Lauria-Pluschkell and Markus Linde (Leibniz Universität Hannover) for helpful discussions, suggestions and ideas.

Glossary

Acervulus, subepidermal, asexual fruiting body; Anamorph, imperfect or asexual stage of a fungus; Apothecium, open cup- or saucer-shaped fruiting body of ascomycetes containing asci; Ascospore, sexually produced spore in an ascus; Ascus, sac-like cell of the ascocarp containing ascospores; Biotroph, organism that can live and multiply only on another living organism; Conidiophore, conidia producing hypha; Conidium, asexual fungus spore developed at the end of conidiophores; Hemibiotroph, organism with a parasitic and saprophytic life part; Holomorph, total of teleomorphic and anamorphic stage of a fungus; Hypha, single branch of mycelium; Necrothroph, organism that feed only on dead tissue; Mycelium, hypha shaping the entire fungus; Paraphysis, sterile hypha separating fruiting bodies inside the apothecium; Saprophyte, organism that feed on dead organic material; Spermatium, male gamete of rust fungi; Subcuticularhypha, parallel mycelia between adaxial epidermic cells and cuticle; Teleomorph, perfect or sexual stage of a fungus.

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  1. Julius Kühn-Institut, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Breeding Research on Fruit Crops, Pillnitzer Platz 3a, 01326, Dresden, Germany

    Thomas Wöhner & Ofere Francis Emeriewen

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  1. Thomas Wöhner
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Correspondence to Thomas Wöhner.

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Wöhner, T., Emeriewen, O.F. Apple blotch disease (Marssonina coronaria (Ellis & Davis) Davis) – review and research prospects. Eur J Plant Pathol 153, 657–669 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-018-1590-9

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