Monosporascus root rot and vine decline disease of muskmelon (Cucumis melo l.): An overview

Muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) is an important cucurbitaceous vegetable crop worldwide. This crop is affected by several fungal, bacterial and viral diseases, which have negative impacts on the production and productivity of the crop. Monosporascus root rot and vine decline (MRVD) caused by Monosporascus cannonballus is a destructive disease of muskmelon worldwide. It causes sudden wilt and collapse of melon plants at the fruiting stage, which results in total yield loss. The fungus also infects other cucurbits including pumpkin, cucumber, squashes and watermelon. Since the pathogen is soil-borne, control of MRVD is challenging. Management of MRVD disease through genetic resistance is not possible at present because no melon cultivars with a substantial level of resistance to M. cannonballus are commercially available. The disease can be controlled to some extent through grafting melon onto resistant rootstocks, pre-plant soil fumigation, soil solarization, crop rotation, application of fungicides and synthetic chemical inducers of plant resistance and biological control. In this review, we present a brief outline of the research conducted to date on MRVD of melon.