Olive anthracnose: a yield- and oil quality-degrading disease caused by several species of Colletotrichum that differ in virulence, host preference and geographical distribution

Pathogen profile

Olive anthracnose causes fruit rot leading to its drop or mummification, resulting in yield losses and the degradation of oil quality. Taxonomy and distribution: The disease is caused by diverse species of Colletotrichum, mostly clustering in the C. acutatum species complex. Colletotrichum nymphaeae and C. godetiae are the prevalent species in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas C. acutatum sensu stricto is the most frequent species in the Southern Hemisphere, although it is recently and quickly emerging in the Northern Hemisphere. The disease has been reported from all continents, but it attains higher incidence and severity in the west of the Mediterranean Basin, where it is endemic in traditional orchards of susceptible cultivars. Life cycle: The pathogens are able to survive on vegetative organs. On the fruit surface, infections remain quiescent until fruit maturity, when typical anthracnose symptoms develop. Under severe epidemics, defoliation and death of branches can also occur. Pathogen species differ in virulence, although this depends on the cultivar. Control: The selection of resistant cultivars depends strongly on pathogen diversity and environmental conditions, posing added difficulties to breeding efforts. Chemical disease control is normally achieved with copper-based fungicides, although this may be insufficient under highly favourable disease conditions and causes concern because of the presence of fungicide residues in the oil. In areas in which the incidence is high, farmers pathogen interactions is basal for the deployment of durable and effective disease control strategies, whether based on resistance breeding, agronomic practices or biological or chemical control

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