Author
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Maas, John |
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Galletta, Gene |
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Submitted to: Journal Acta Horticulturae
Publication Type: Review Article Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/1996 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: No Interpretive Summary required. Technical Abstract: A great deal of recent research has been published worldwide on diseases and other pests of strawberry. Among the disease research papers, those with emphasis on Colletotrichum spp. (anthracnose) were nearly twice as numerous as those on Phytophthora fragariae (red stele), P. cactorum (crown rot), or Botrytis (gray mold) and the diseases they cause. The emphasis on these diseases is worldwide, while for some, such as Alternaria black spot, black root rot, and Fusarium wilt, the importance is regional. A few diseases, such as bacterial angular leafspot (Xanthomonas fragariae), Pseudomonas wilt, and Fusarium wilt, have not received as much attention, except locally, but have the capability of causing much damage on a broader scale in the future. We would benefit from paying more serious attention to these lesser known diseases now rather than assuming that either they will disappear or remain relatively unimportant to the world strawberry industry. Research on biological control of strawberry diseases also has intensified during this period. As fungicides and other pesticides are lost, or are losing their effectiveness, efforts have increased to develop biopesticides based on antagonistic fungi (e.g., Trichoderma and Gloeosporium spp.) and parasitic insects, mites, and nematodes. These, with genetic resistance, may be our salvation for the near future, at least until such time that transformed cultivars are developed carrying foreign genes encoding for resistance to these organisms. |
