EPPO Platform
on PRAs

Scientific Opinion on the pest categorisation of Verticillium albo-atrum sensu stricto, V. alfalfae sp. nov., and V. nonalfalfae sp. nov.

Description

The European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to perform a pest categorisation of Verticillium albo-atrum Reinke and Berthold, the causal agent of Verticillium wilts. V. albo-atrum causes wilt and plant death, impairing the growth and shortening the lifespan of its hosts. V. albo-atrum was recently split into three species, V. albo-atrum sensu stricto, V. alfalfae and V. nonalfalfae, for which reliable detection and identification methods exist. V. albo-atrum sensu lato is present in most parts of the EU. The new taxonomic status of the pathogen, and the confusion that existed in the past between V. albo-atrum sensu lato and V. dahliae, cause uncertainty on its distribution worldwide and in the EU. Based on recent studies, the presence of each of the new species (V. albo-atrum sensu strictoV. alfalfae, V. nonalfalfae) has so far been confirmed in a relatively small part of the EU. The pathogen has a wide host range. In the EU, it affects many cultivated and non-cultivated plant species, including some very important crops (alfalfa, cotton, hop, potato and tomato). However, the so far known host range of each of the above-mentioned new species is more restricted than that of V. albo-atrum sensu lato. There are no obvious ecoclimatic factors limiting the potential establishment and spread of the pathogen in the non-infested part of the EU where hosts are present. Once established, the pathogen can spread by natural and human-assisted means. Movement of infected host plants for planting, especially asymptomatic plants, can introduce the pathogen into new areas. Integrated management strategies may reduce impacts of V. albo-atrum sensu lato in the EU, but they do not eliminate the pathogen. V. albo-atrum sensu lato is listed in Annex IIAII of Directive 2000/29/EC. Despite its wide host range, it is regulated only on Humulus lupulus.

Organisms

  • Verticillium albo-atrum lucerne strains
  • Verticillium alboatrum sensu lato
  • Verticillium nonalfalfae
  • Verticillium nonalfalfae hop strains

Hosts

  • Gossypium
  • Humulus lupulus
  • Medicago sativa
  • Solanum lycopersicum
  • Solanum tuberosum

Files

Type File Size
Pest Risk Analysis Link to file

PRA Area

  • EU
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden