Review highlights the expanding host range and fungicide resistance of Stemphylium vesicarium in horticultural crops, underscoring the urgent need for integrated management.
Key Points
To synthesize current knowledge on the taxonomy, epidemiology, genetic diversity, toxin-mediated pathogenicity, and management options for Stemphylium vesicarium in horticultural systems.
Synthesized molecular, genomic, and epidemiological literature on Stemphylium vesicarium, covering multilocus phylogenetics and whole-genome sequencing data.
Assessed pathogen life-cycle mechanics, transmission vectors, overwintering reservoirs, and documented fungicide resistance profiles across multiple host crops.
Stemphylium vesicarium demonstrates an expanding host range beyond pear and onion to crops such as spinach, driven by host-specialized pathotypes and host-specific toxins.
The pathogen maintains a polycyclic epidemiology relying on early-spring sexual ascospores and asexual conidia, overwintering on crop debris, woody tissues, and weed hosts with transmission via seeds, transplants, and thrips.
Extensive genetic diversity and widespread fungicide resistance, combined with a lack of resistant crop cultivars, significantly impair chemical control and escalate yield losses.