Does abiotic host stress favour Dothideomycete-induced disease development?

The Dothideomycete represents one of the largest and diverse class of fungi. This class exhibits a wide diversity of lifestyle with endophytic, saprophytic, pathogenic and even parasitic organisms. Plant pathogenic fungi are particularly common within the Dothideomycetes and are primarily found within the order of Pleosporales, Botryosphaeriales and Capnodiales. As many Dothideomycetes can infect crops used as staple food around the world such as rice, wheat, maize or banana, this class of fungi is highly relevant to food security. In the context of climate change, food security faces unprecedented pressure. The benefits of a more plant-based diet to both health and climate have long been established, therefore the demand for crop production is expected to increase. Further adding pressure on food security, both the prevalence of diseases caused by fungi and the yield losses associated with abiotic stresses on crops are forecast to increase in all climate change scenarios. Environmental conditions are known to affect the development of diseases, however; the impacts these conditions have on the host plant in relation to disease development are equally important as abiotic stresses can influence the interactions between hosts and pathogens. This review focusses on the impact of abiotic stresses on the host in the development of diseases caused by Dothideomycete fungi.