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Epicoccum species: ubiquitous plant pathogens and effective biological control agents

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Abstract

Epicoccum species are ubiquitous ascomycetes. Several species are known to cause plant diseases and some species act as biological control agents against a range of plant pathogens. Accurate identification of Epicoccum species is paramount to a successful disease management program and successful development of biological control products. There are 18 Epicoccum species that are associated with diseases of 46 plant species. The diseases occur in 20 countries with leaf spot as the most commonly reported disease symptom. There are a further five Epicoccum species (E. nigrum, E. layuense, E. dendrobii, E, mezzettii and E. minitans) that have biological control activity against various plant pathogens. Of the five species, Epicoccum nigrum is the most promising and has been shown to reduce incidence and severity of a wide range of plant diseases. The use of bioactive metabolites (e.g. flavipin and epicolactone) from Epicoccum spp. may offer growers a cheap and safe alternative to conventional pesticides which are widely used to manage plant diseases. We review the current knowledge of Epicoccum species, both those species that are plant pathogens, and those species that are biological control agents for plant disease.

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Acknowledgments

Studies on Epicoccum of dragon fruits in the Philippines were supported by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research through a grant awarded to M.A. Balendres (N825921, 2019-2022) and the Institute of Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture and Food Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños. We thank Dr. Giovannie Del Frari of the University of Lisbon (Portugal), Prof. Yingjuan Chen of Southwest University (China) and Prof. R. Li of Yichun University (China), for providing the Epicoccum cultures and diseased plant photographs. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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  1. Plant Pathology Laboratory, Institute of Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture and Food Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños, 4031, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

    John Darby Taguiam, Edzel Evallo & Mark Angelo Balendres

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  1. John Darby Taguiam
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  2. Edzel Evallo
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  3. Mark Angelo Balendres
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Correspondence to Mark Angelo Balendres.

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Taguiam, J.D., Evallo, E. & Balendres, M.A. Epicoccum species: ubiquitous plant pathogens and effective biological control agents. Eur J Plant Pathol 159, 713–725 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-021-02207-w

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