ABSTRACT
Tomato, an important vegetable crop, is well suited to biotic stress, but their production is challenged by several kinds of pathogen such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Cercospora leaf spot caused by Pseudocercospora fuligena, also known as Cercospora leaf mold is the very minor fungal disease and found in almost all continents of the globe. The wide host range is due to the production of a photoactivated toxin, cercosporin. Integrated disease management (IDM), including host plant resistance (HPR), agronomic practices, use of fungicides and bio-pesticides applied in complementation can be used as a way of management to control this disease. In addition, both breeding and biotechnological approaches can be used to develop resistant lines against this disease. The process of heterosis, one of the breeding approaches can be used to increase 108productivity and disease resistance. As far as biotechnological intervention in the control of this disease is concerned, hardly any report is available. Transformation with cercosporin auto resistance genes taken from the fungus, and transformation with designed constructs to silence the production of cercosporin may be used like tobacco in tomato to develop Cercospora leaf spot tolerant lines. Moreover, marker-assisted selection (MAS) of Cercospora resistant QTL and their introgression in the high yielding line of tomato may be an effective way to get rid of this disease. This book chapter incorporates information on Cercospora leaf spot of tomato and various way of management to control this disease, including biotechnological intervention.
