Horticulturae 2023, 9, 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9020130 www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae Review Black Rot of Grapes (Guignardia bidwellii)—A Comprehensive Overview Márton Szabó 1 , Anna Csikász‐Krizsics 1 , Terézia Dula 2 , Eszter Farkas 3 , Dóra Roznik 1 , Pál Kozma 1 and Tamás Deák 3, * 1 Research Institute for Viticulture and Oenology, University of Pécs, Pázmány Péter u. 4, 7634 Pécs, Hungary 2 Dula Grape & Wine Advisory Ltd., Eszterházy Tér 9, 3300 Eger, Hungary; dulane.terezia@gmail.com 3 Institute of Viticulture and Oenology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi út 29‐43, 1118 Budapest, Hungary * Correspondence: deak.tamas@uni‐mate.hu Abstract: The aim of this review is to provide readers with an integrated knowledge on black rot of grapes, based on a critical survey of previous and recent studies of scientific importance. The current state of the art and perspectives of science are presented, not only on the genetic determinants of grapevine resistance to black rot, predictive models of black rot epidemics, but also on the potential of metabolomics to explore black rot‐grape interactions and shorten plant breeding processes. Nu‐ merous complications of disease management and ambiguities in phenotype‐classification are high‐ lighted, and by exploring the limitations and inconsistencies of previous studies, insights into key dilemmas and controversial findings are also provided, suggesting future research directions. Much research has been conducted, but biochemical and molecular studies of the true interactions be‐ tween grapevine and Guignardia bidwellii are still rarity. Keywords: disease control; resistance; host‐pathogen interaction 1. Introduction Grapes have been cultivated for thousands of years and are of great economic and cultural importance. According to the International Organization of Vine and Wine, 85 million tons of grapes were produced worldwide in 2019, and the global vineyard surface area is estimated at around 7.3 million hectares [1]. Vitaceae includes 15 genera and about 900 species [2], but only one of them, Vitis vi‐ nifera, which takes account of almost all varieties, is cultivated for high quality fruits, and is mainly used for wine production. Compared to wild Vitis species, however, these vari‐ eties are more affected by environmental factors such as biotic (damage caused by fungi, insects, nematodes, bacteria, etc.) and abiotic (e.g., temperature, heavy metals, salinity, etc.) stresses, which can result in significantly lower and limited yields. These environ‐ mental factors have threatened yields since the beginning of agricultural and horticultural production, the emergence of new and almost forgotten grapevine pathogens due to cli‐ mate change, as well as societal expectations and stricter regulation of pesticide use, are creating a new set of challenges for the European grapevine and wine sector. A good ex‐ ample is that since the turn of the millennium, vineyards of Central European countries have been struggling with the black rot of grapes (caused by Guignardia bidwellii), a dis‐ ease known for a long time in scientific literature but relatively new in practice. G. bidwellii was identified in North America in 1853 and spread to Europe in the late 19th century following powdery mildew (caused by Erysiphe necator) and downy mildew (caused by Plasmopara viticola). European grapevine cultivars are susceptible to black rot Citation: Szabó, M.; Csikász‐Krizsics, A.; Dula, T.; Farkas, E.; Roznik, D.; Kozma, P.; Deák, T. Black Rot of Grapes (Guignardia bidwellii)—A Comprehensive Overview. Horticulturae 2023, 9, 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/ horticulturae9020130 Academic Editor: Jiatao Xie Received: 25 November 2022 Revised: 4 January 2023 Accepted: 9 January 2023 Published: 18 January 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/license s/by/4.0/).