Solanum dulcamara is an important vector for the devastating potato disease called brown rot which is caused by the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum.

The bacterium can live in woody nightshade plants along rivers without causing problems. But when river water is used to irrigate potato fields the disease is spread to the crop.

Eradication of S. dulcamara along rivers was tried as a control mechanism in Scotland in 2001 - see