Olive cercosporiosis

Pseudocercospora cladosporioides (Sacc.) Braun, the causal agent of cercosporiosis or cercospora leaf spots, is responsible for severe defoliation to olive trees; fruits, petioles, fruit stalks, and young shoots can also be attacked by the fungus. Little is known about the biology of the pathogen, the epidemiology and the control of cercosporiosis. Some papers had been published in the '50s and '60s, but they became sporadic in the following decades. In this chapter, an account is given of olive cercosporiosis, focusing attention on recent advances in the knowledge of the biology, control and diagnosis of the pathogen.