Do Fungal Naphthalenones Have a Role in the Development of Esca Symptoms?

Abstract

As part of a study on fungal toxins, we isolated and identified a series of naphthalenone-related compounds derived from five species of pathogenic fungi. We report here the investigation of the liquid culture medium of Phaeoacremonium aleophilum, one of the most important pathogens in the first stage of esca. Various biological assays on grapevine callus and on Arabidopsis thaliana were performed to ascertain the toxic effect of the seven naphthatlenones isolated from this pathogen.