Diaporthe toxica

Diaporthe toxica is a plant endophyte and occasionally a plant pathogen. D. toxica produces secondary metabolites that result in toxicoses of animals such as lupinosis of sheep. Mycotoxic lupinosis is a disease caused by lupin material that is infected with the fungus. The fungus produces mycotoxins called phomopsins, which cause liver damage. Lupinosis has been incorrectly attributed to Diaporthe woodii but has now been shown to be a mycotoxicosis caused by the recently discovered (1994) teleomorphic fungus Diaporthe toxica. The discovery and naming of this new fungus concludes over a century of investigation into the cause of lupinosis since the first outbreak in Germany in 1872.