Biology and control of Rosellinia bunodes, Rosellinia necatrix and Rosellinia pepo: A review

Rosellinia species have been recorded all over the world. Many species occur as saprobes and only a few are well-known root pathogens. Although Rosellinia spp. have been recognized for more than 130 years to cause losses in many economically important crops and trees, the few existing sets of quantitative data have not previously been collated. Our objective is to integrate available knowledge on the biology and control of Rosellinia root rots, with emphasis on the tropics and subtropics, i.e. root rots caused by Rosellinia bunodes, R. necatrix and R. pepo. The review will summarize briefly the taxonomy, geographical distribution, ecology, host-range, disease symptoms and spread of Rosellinia in order to provide a rational basis for the choice of control options. Different avenues explored to control Rosellinia are presented: cultural control, solarization, genetic resistance, chemical and biological control. Successful Rosellinia control usually consists of an integrated approach, invariably centring around cultural control options. In the short term, chemical control may be best suited to supplement cultural measures, while medium and long term solutions could be provided by biological control and genetic resistance, respectively, if prioritized research needs are addressed satisfactorily.