Peronospora Hyoscyami F.sp. Tabacina - Background Information

Background Information

Peronopora Hyoscyami Blue mold of tobacco is caused by Peronospora tabacina; it is a fungus like organism that is highly destructive toward seed plants. The tabacina is also very alarming towards humid farming zones, like the southeastern and eastern U.S., Canada, and countries boarding the Caribbean. The disease was first identified in 1921 in Florida and Georgia Ten years later the same disease was found once again in the same region of the U.S. The disease began to spread into Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina. A few years later the disease reached Kentucky and Tennessee. In 1960 a blue mold epidemic spread on tobacco in approximately eleven countries. There was approximately twenty five million dollars in losses which is nearly thirty percent of tobacco plants. Each year Peronospora Hyoscyami is introduced as blue mold, known as windblown spores from outside the region by infected transplants.