From native plants in central Europe to cultivated crops worldwide: The emergence of Didymella bryoniae as a cucurbit pathogen

Abstract

Didymella bryoniae (Auersw.) Rehm [anamorph Phoma cucurbitacearum (Fr.) Sacc.], the plant pathogenic fungus that causes gummy stem blight and black rot on cucurbits, was first described in 1869 from Bryonia (bryony or wild hops) in central Europe. Today, this pathogen is found on six continents on at least 12 genera and 23 species of cucurbits. How did D. bryoniae progress from a pathogen of a native plant in central Europe to a worldwide threat to cucurbits cultivated in humid environments? Clues from the early discoveries of this fungus, its characteristics as a seedborne pathogen, and its broad adaptation to cucurbit hosts will provide some answers to this question.