The numerous enemies of the vine are divided into the groups of micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, as well as animal pests, which act indirectly through the transmission of diseases or directly through, for example, root rot or consequential damage such as rot. In addition, some diseases are also caused by nutrient deficiencies. Many diseases are of European origin, some were "imported" from North America from the mid-19th century onwards. These were, in that order, phylloxera, powdery mild ew (oidium), downy mildew (peronospora) and black rot (which were called the "four great plagues"), and as late as the 1940s, flavescence dorée (golden yellowing).
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