Global Blueberry Crisis: Devastating Fungus Rapidly Spreading Across the Globe

A fungus causing powdery mildew in blueberries has spread from the U.S. to continents like Europe and Asia, threatening crops and increasing fungicide dependence. NC State researchers found that blueberry powdery mildew has spread globally in two strains, costing the industry up to $530 million annually. A new tool now helps farmers identify and manage the disease.

A new study from North Carolina State University has traced the global spread of a fungus that causes powdery mildew in blueberry plants—a disease that lowers crop yields and increases reliance on fungicides. These findings could help blueberry growers better predict, monitor, and manage the spread of powdery mildew.

The research reveals that over the past 12 years, the fungus Erysiphe vaccinii has expanded from its original range in the eastern United States to several continents.

“We’re watching this global spread happen right now, in real time,” said Michael Bradshaw, assistant professor of plant pathology at NC State and the corresponding author of a paper describing the research.

Powdery mildew covers a plant, stealing nutrients and limiting photosynthesis. Credit: Michael Bradshaw, NC State University

As its name suggests, powdery mildew disease causes a white, powdery substance to cover host plants, stealing nutrients and retarding photosynthesis while keeping the host alive. Different species of this fungus affect different plants; wheat, hops, grapes, and strawberries, among other plants, have been detrimentally affected by powdery mildew.

“There are other closely related powdery mildews that affect plants like wild berries or eucalyptus, but these are genetically different from the ones spreading across the world on blueberries,” Bradshaw said.

In the study, Bradshaw and his colleagues examined historic and modern plant leaves plagued by powdery mildew. The collection includes 173 samples from North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia; one sample analyzed from a North American herbarium was collected over 150 years ago, while the foreign samples were all collected within the past five years. In this study, powdery mildew was first spotted outside North America on a farm in Portugal in 2012, as noted by a co-author of Bradshaw’s who was employed by a major berry company.

The researchers performed genetic testing on the fungal samples to trace the history and spread of powdery mildew disease. Interestingly, none of the old specimens have the same genetic makeup, or genotype, as the specimens currently spreading throughout the world.

The study showed that the disease originated in the eastern United States and was set loose globally in two different introductions. One strain of E. vaccinii found its way to China, Mexico, and California, while a different strain wound up in Morocco, Peru, and Portugal. Bradshaw thinks humans are responsible for the spread as nursery plants traveled to foreign shores.

“This is a hard organism to control,” Bradshaw said. “If you’re sending plant material across the world, you’re likely spreading this fungus with it.”

Interestingly, the study also showed that the E. vaccinii fungus found in blueberries in other countries appears to solely reproduce asexually; both sexual versions of the fungus are not required in reproduction, whereas the fungus reproduces sexually and asexually in the United States.

The study also worked with a large company and farmers to provide an estimate of the global cost of powdery mildew to blueberries, reflecting the cost of spraying fungicide to prevent or reduce powdery mildew. The study estimates a cost range of between $47 million and $530 million annually to the global blueberry industry.

Finally, the study provides some early warning signals to important blueberry-producing areas, like the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Conditions there are ripe for powdery mildew to take hold and spread, but the disease has not found its way there yet.

“Disease spread could also be impacted by agricultural conditions,” Bradshaw said. “Some areas that grow blueberries in tunnels, or enclosed areas, seem to have worse disease outcomes than areas that grow blueberries outdoors without any covering, like in North Carolina.”

Bradshaw added that the researchers utilized a useful tool that can help identify E. vaccinii strains to aid farmers and other researchers.

“It’s difficult to identify the fungus that causes powdery mildew in blueberries, so we input our data in a public database developed at NC State by a co-author, Ignazio Carbone. This platform allows growers to enter their data and learn which specific strain is in their fields,” Bradshaw said. “That’s important because understanding the genetics can warn farmers about which strain they have, whether it is resistant to fungicides, and how the disease is spreading, as well as the virulence of particular strains.”

“An emerging fungal disease is spreading across the globe and affecting the blueberry industry”

by Michael Bradshaw, Kelly Ivors, Janet C. Broome, Ignazio Carbone, Uwe Braun, Shirley Yang, Emma Meng, Brooke Warres, William O. Cline, Swarnalatha Moparthi, Alejandro K. Llanos, Walter Apaza, Miao Liu, Julie Carey, Mehdi El Ghazouani, Rita Carvalho, Marianne Elliott, David Boufford, Tiaan Coetzee, Johan de Wet, James K. Mitchell, Luis Quijada, JamJan Meeboon, Susumu Takamatsu, Uma Crouch, Scott LaGreca and Donald H. Pfister,

The paper appears in New Phytologist. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation under award numbers 2315953, 2200038, 2031955 and 2308472. The work was also supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation under grant numbers NNF19SA0059360 and NNF19SA0035476.

I was up on a small cliff, and could see down to the ocean and see the bass swimming along the Rockline so I casted out to them and wham! Got a small one right off the bat, reeled it up to my perch, and went to take the lure out, and it thrashed around hard and the treble hook snagged my thumb but good. Had to rip it out. Fortunately the bleeding stopped and was able to continue, as the fish were really working the shallows. Caught a lot of little ones, but no keeper unfortunately that day. Was a lot of fun working the cliffs like that and seeing the fish in their “wolf packs” roaming around looking for food.

I never have been fishing for bluefish- my brother has and said it was a blast- i guess they fight like the dickens when caught. I did try some thohgh, wasn’t crazy about the taste.

Yeah, it is pretty impressive watching those stripers cruising up and down parallel to the rocks looking for their prey!

I went fishing for bluefish, and they do fight, but like you, I don’t care for the taste. The boat was red with blood washing back and forth, we caught so many of them. I don’t eat sushi, but my best friend cut off a piece of a bluefish we just caught and forced it on me...what was I going to do, puss out?

It didn’t taste fishy to me.

But when I took it home and grilled it...ugh. Not my kind of fish...I am a white-meat fish kind of person!

I enjoy this discussion-I am no fisherman, but I get to hang around with people who are! My buddy and I rented a charter for just the two of us, and it was a. beautiful day off the rocks!

Yeah my brother brought a few bluefish back and we tried grilling it- didn’t turn out well- mushy, oily, and real fishy tasting- I woudl imagine though that raw wouldn’t be as mushy and perhaps not as oily- I think the cooking just brings out the mushy and oiliness of it-

Enjoyed the discussion too- broguht back good memories- I’m just a casual fisherman- (Though summers i woudl go as often as possible after work, weekends etc-) nothign serious- or at least i used to be- now i just have the memories- and good ones at that- Nothing liek beign out on the water on a warm sunny day, just enjoying it all-

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