Phytophthora capsici: Recent Progress on Fundamental Biology and Disease Management 100 Years After Its Description

Abstract

Phytophthora capsici is a destructive oomycete pathogen of vegetable, ornamental, and tropical crops. First described by L.H. Leonian in 1922 as a pathogen of pepper in New Mexico, USA, P. capsici is now widespread in temperate and tropical countries alike. Phytophthora capsici is notorious for its capability to evade disease management strategies. High genetic diversity allows P. capsici populations to overcome fungicides and host resistance, the formation of oospores results in long-term persistence in soils, zoospore differentiation in the presence of water increases epidemic potential, and a broad host range maximizes economic losses and limits the effectiveness of crop rotation. The severity of disease caused by P. capsici and management challenges have led to numerous research efforts in the past 100 years. Here, we discuss recent findings regarding the biology, genetic diversity, disease management, fungicide resistance, host resistance, genomics, and effector biology of P. capsici. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Phytopathology, Volume 61 is September 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

CaWRKY01-10 and CaWRKY08-4 Confer Pepper’s Resistance to Phytophthora capsici Infection by Directly Activating a Cluster of Defense-Related Genes

“…capsici, is a destructive disease around the world. Moreover, this pathogen can also attack hundreds of other plant species including crops, vegetables, and horticultural and pasture plants. , Although originally thought to be fungi, oomycetes including Phytophthora spp. are more closely related to diatoms and brown algae .…”

An RXLR effector targets ER-Golgi interface to induce ER stress and necrotic cell death

“…It then transitions to a necrotrophic phase aimed at extracting nutrients from dead cells and releasing spores for subsequent dissemination. (Kamoun et al 2015;Parada-Rojas et al 2021;Quesada-Ocampo et al 2023). Although researchers have uncovered the role of RXLR effectors in increasing susceptibility by interfering with host cell physiology or triggering defense responses through interactions with R proteins during the biotrophic phase, our understanding of how these effectors induce necrosis in host cells remains quite limited.…”

“…P. capsici is an oomycete pathogen causing blight disease in economically important crops, including Solanaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, and Malvaceae (Kamoun et al 2015;Parada-Rojas et al 2021;Quesada-Ocampo et al 2023). P. capsici can inflict up to 100% crop damage in fields upon successful plant infection.…”

Antifungal activity of the botanical compound rhein against Phytophthora capsici and the underlying mechanisms

“…4,5 P. capsici causes various disease symptoms on host plants, such as leaf blight, stem blight, root rot, fruit rot, and stem rot. 6,7 Currently, annual economic losses due to P. capsici damage amount to 1-10 billion USD worldwide. 6,8 Over the few past decades, the prevention and control of P. capsici have been mainly achieved by chemical approaches, with commonly used chemical fungicides including phenylamides (e.g., benalaxyl and metalaxyl), strobilurins (e.g., azoxystrobin and fluoxastrobin), and phosphites (e.g., potassium phosphite and fosetyl aluminum).…”

“…Phytophthora capsici is a notorious phytopathogen that attacks numerous important vegetables, including pepper, cucumber, tobacco, tomato, eggplant, and some melon crops 4,5 . P. capsici causes various disease symptoms on host plants, such as leaf blight, stem blight, root rot, fruit rot, and stem rot 6,7 . Currently, annual economic losses due to P. capsici damage amount to 1–10 billion USD worldwide 6,8 …”