Ascochyta blights consistently affect large areas of grain legume production (pea, lentil, chickpea and faba bean) in all countries where they are cultivated. These diseases are capable of causing large yield losses under conducive environmental conditions. This book considers the state of the art by taking a comparative approach of Ascochyta blight diseases of cool season food and feed legumes. Topics considered are pathogen diversity, legume genetics and breeding, and integrated disease management.Reprinted from European Journal of Plant Pathology, Volume 119, No. 1, 2007

Foreword: B. Tivoli et al.1. Towards identifying pathogenic determinants of the chickpea pathogen Ascochyta rabiei: D. White, W. Chen.2. Biotic factors affecting the expression of partial resistance in pea to ascochyta blight in a detached stipule assay: C. Onfroy et al.3. Validation of a QTL for resistance to ascochyta blight linked to resistance to fusarium wilt race 5 in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.): M. Iruela et al.4. Genetic relationships among chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes based on the SSRs at the quantitative trait loci for resistance to ascochyta blight: B. Tar¿an et al.5. Inheritance of resistance to Mycosphaerella pinodes in two wild accessions of Pisum: S. Fondevilla et al.6. Comparison of the epidemiology of ascochyta blights on grain legumes: B. Tivoli, S. Banniza.7. Development of ascochyta blight (Ascochyta rabiei) in chickpea as affected by host resistance and plant age: A.K. Basandrai et al.8. Assessment of airborne primary inoculum availability and modeling of disease onset of ascochyta blight in field peas: A. Schoeny et al.9. Integrated disease management of ascochyta blight in pulse crops: J.A. Davidson, R.B. Kimber.10. The sympatric Ascochyta pathosystems of Near Eastern legumes, a key for better understanding of pathogen biology: S. Abbo et al.11. Role of host specificity in the speciation of Ascochyta pathogens of cool season food legumes: T.L. Peever.12. Diagnostics, diversity and pathogenic variation of ascochyta blight of cool season food and feed legumes: P.W. Taylor, R. Ford.13. Resistance to ascochyta blights in cool season food legumes: F.J. Muehlbauer, W. Chen.