Gymnosporangium Species – An Important Issue of Plant Protection

Rusts (Fungi, Basidiomycota, Pucciniomycotina, Pucciniomycetes, Pucciniales) are one of the most important causal agents of diseases and they are infecting many plants including cereals and field crops, vegetables, trees and many ornamentals. They have been studied for a long time and have economic importance among the plant diseases caused by agents of different species of fungi. In Europe, thirteen rust genera have been reported, of which the genus Gymnosporangium is the second largest after genus Phragmidium. The most significant fruit tree rust pathogen is the genus Gymnosporangium. The literature review shows quite limited scientific information about this genus and its species. Studies have mainly focused on some stages of the pathogen development cycle, which are significant for the spread of diseases - uredo and teleito stages. Special attention of the review was paid to European pear rust (caused by G. sabinae (Dicks.) G. Winter), the distribution of which has increased during the last ten years, especially in organic pear orchards. Currently there is a limited number of scientific publications about European pear rust, and they are mainly based only on observations in vitro without trials in the field, despite the fact that it has become one of the most devastating diseases. Therefore, the presented review analyses the rust exploration history, diversity and distribution of species, life cycle, development biology and plant protection issues.