Recent insights into potato dry rot an emerging Disease: Focusing on pathogen diversity, host-pathogen interactions, and management strategies

Abstract

Nowadays, global food safety and security are major concerns to mitigate global hunger. As, the world's population rising at an alarming rate and is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, agriculturists have great responsibilities to grow more food from limited land. Crops are affected by several biotic and abiotic stresses in the field as well as during storage, this situation is drastic in developing countries. Potato belongs to the Solanaceae family, is considered a promising staple vegetable crop. To address the major issue of food safety and security, potatoes can be considered as a crucial non cereal food crop to combat this problem, as they can be grown under field conditions, and soilless medium (hydroponically, and aeroponically). The potato crop is also affected by various biotic stresses in both field and post-harvest conditions, significantly deteriorating its qualitative and quantitative yield. Among the biotic stresses, Fusarium dry rot (FDR) incited by the Fusarium species complex is considered a major problem in the present scenario. Dry rot of potato causes drastic quality and yield loss in cold stores. Moreover, Fusarium spp., producing mycotoxins like trichothecenes that contribute to the disease development. Fusarium spp. utilizes enzymes like pectinases and cellulases to break down plant cell walls, facilitating invasion and colonization. Therefore, implement crop rotation, use disease-resistant potato varieties, practice good sanitation, and employ fungicides to manage potato dry rot disease would be beneficial. Therefore, there is an urgent need to study the fungal species involved, pathogenicity, and to find the best management strategies for sustainable potato production. Although some reports on FDR of potato have been published previously, many recent studies have since offered new insights into diagnostic techniques, mycotoxin detection and quantification, and management strategies. Therefore, this review aims to integrate these recent findings, offering an updated outlook on FDR considering emerging research. Our objective is to provide a timely synthesis of the latest research developments that were not covered in previous reviews, making this article a valuable and necessary contribution to the agricultural field.