A plant disease caused by fungi of the genus Alternaria, characterized by brown or black spots on leaves, stems, and fruits.
Formed from 'Alternaria' plus the medical/pathological suffix '-ose' (indicating a disease or condition), creating a technical term for the specific illness caused by this fungal genus.
This disease has shaped global agriculture in surprising ways—early potato blight in Ireland was partly caused by Alternaria, helping to make the Great Famine as devastating as it was. Today, farmers spend millions on fungicides specifically targeting Alternaria species.
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