Distribution and genetic diversity of Dothistroma septosporum in Pinus brutia forests of south-western Turkey

The support of the DIAROD project, funded as EU COST Action FP1102, is gratefully acknowledged. Forest engineers Ali Datumani and Erdal Örtel are thanked for their great help in the field. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers who helped improve the manuscript. We would like to thank Dr Alkan Unlu for providing the climate data and to Dr Ilker Ercanli for performing the statistical analysis. The study was financially supported by the Forestry Commission, United Kingdom and by the European Regional Development Fund, Project Phytophthora Research Centre Reg. No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000453.Peer reviewedPostprin

Occurrence of Porodaedalea pini (Brot.: Fr.) Murr. in pine forests of the lake district in south-western Turkey

The occurrence of basidiocarps of the white rot fungus Porodaedalea (Phellinus) pini on Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana and P. brutia was investigated in six stands, covering a total land area of some 650 hectares, in Isparta province of the Lake District in Turkey. The height above ground of the lowermost P. pini basidiocarp was measured on each trunk. Basidiocarps of P. pini were found on thirty-eight trees, 32 P. nigra subsp. pallasiana (84.2% of the total) and six P. brutia (15.8%). The breast-height diameter of P. nigra individuals with P. pini ranged from 41 to 188 cm (average 77.7 cm) and that of P. brutia with P. pini from 68 to 96 cm (average 76.4 cm). Basidiocarps were mostly found on the lower part of the trunks of old trees. In addition to pathological aspects, the ecological role of the fungus in old-growth pine forests is discussed in relation to nature conservancy and biodiversity

Susceptibilidad de Pinus nigra y Cedrus libani a aislados turcos de Gremmeniella abietina

Gremmeniella abietina causes shoot dieback and stem cankers on conifers throughout Northern hemisphere. The aim of this study was to investigate the virulence of Turkish G. abietina isolates in a field experiment. The lower branches of 15-20-year-old P. nigra and C. libani in a plantation site at 1,050 m a.s.l. in Isparta were inoculated at 1-2-month intervals during September-January. Five isolates obtained from high altitude mountainous forests were used. Each isolate was inoculated into two branches per tree and repeated ten times on both tree species at each inoculation date. The branches were sampled at the end of February, and in August, and lesion lengths in the inner bark measured. The mean lesion length on P. nigra and C libani were 10.6 ± 0.8 and 3.8 ± 0.2 mm in February and 17.6 ± 1.4 and 7.8 ± 0.8 mm in August, respectively. Differences in the mean lesion length between the isolates were small. Nevertheless, there were significant differences between the isolates on P. nigra in November and January inoculations, and on C. libani at all four inoculation times. The mean lesion lengths for all isolates at both sampling dates was the highest (p < 0.01) in December inoculations for both P. nigra (22.0 ± 1.9 February; 32.9 ± 2.9 August) and C. libani (5.6 ± 0.7; 11.3 ± 1.2). There was no difference between the September and January inoculations on P. nigra, despite the almost six-fold difference in incubation period. During the December inoculations, the trees were most likely in winter dormancy, i.e. unable to defend themselves, which would explain the large lesions.La Gremmeniella abietina causa la muerte regresiva de brotes y cancros sobre coníferas en todo el hemisferio norte. El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar la virulencia de aislados turcos de G. abietina en un experimento de campo. Se inocularon las ramas más bajas de P. nigra y C. libani de 15 a 20 años de edad en un sitio de plantación a 1.050 m snm en Isparta a intervalos de 1-2 meses entre septiembre y enero utilizando cinco aislamientos obtenidos de bosques de las zonas montañosas altas. Cada aislado se inoculó en dos ramas por árbol y se repitieron diez veces en las dos especies en cada fecha de inoculación. Se tomaron muestras de las ramas al final del mes de febrero, y en agosto, y se midieron la longitud de la lesión en la corteza interna. La longitud media de la lesión en P. nigra y C. libani fueron 10,6 ± 0,8 y 3,8 ± 0,2 mm en febrero y 17,6 ± 1,4 y 7,8 ± 0,8 mm en agosto, respectivamente. Las diferencias en la longitud de la lesión media entre los aislados eran pequeñas. Sin embargo, hubo diferencias significativas entre los aislamientos de P. nigra en inoculaciones de noviembre y enero, y en C. libani en los cuatro tiempos de inoculación. La longitud media de la lesión para todos los aislamientos en ambas fechas de muestreo fue la más alta (p < 0,01) en las inoculaciones de diciembre tanto para P. nigra (22,0 ± 1,9 de febrero, 32,9 ± 2,9 de agosto) como para C. libani (5,6 ± 0,7; 11,3 ± 1,2). No hubo diferencias entre las de septiembre y enero en P. nigra, a pesar de la diferencia de casi seis veces en el período de incubación. Durante las inoculaciones de diciembre, los árboles estaban probablemente en letargo invernal, es decir, incapaces de defenderse, lo que explicaría las lesiones de gran tamaño

Abies nordmanniana ssp. bornmülleriana TOMRUKLARINDAN KESİLEN DİSKLERİN Heterobasidion annosum s.l. TARAFINDAN KOLONİZASYONU

Bu çalışmada, Bolu, Aladağ-Şerif Yüksel Araştırma Ormanı’nda yeni kesilmiş, 21 göknar (Abies nordmanniana ssp. bornmülleriana) ağacının tomruklarının farklı yüksekliklerinden alınan 39 adet diskte, Heterobasidion annosum s. l.’ a ait konidioforların varlığı araştırılmıştır. Oda sıcaklığında bir haftalık inkubasyon döneminin sonunda, her bir diskin 5 farklı noktasından alınan konidioforlardan gelişen miselyumda, kanca oluşumuna bakılmış ve bunların % 90,97’sinin homokaryotik % 9,03’ünün ise heterokaryotik karakterde olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Heterokaryotik özellikteki miselyumun elde edildiği disklerde, hastalık etmeninin ağaçta daha önceden bulunduğuna işaret eden tipik belirtilere rastlanmamıştır. Kesitlerin alındığı tarihte havada basidiospor inokulumunun var olduğu, dolayısıyla yeni kesilmiş disklerde gözlenen bulaşmanın basidiosporlar aracılığıyla gerçekleştirildiği sonucuna varıldı. Anahtar kelimeler: Annosum kök çürüklüğü, konidiofor, basidiospor, odun diskleri, göknar

HETEROBASIDION ANNOSUM S. L.’ UN ULUDAĞ GÖKNARINDA OLUŞTURDUĞU ALT GÖVDE ÇÜRÜKLÜĞÜNÜN ARAZİ VE LABORATUVAR METOTLARI İLE TESPİTİ

Bu çalışmada, Uludağ göknarında (Abies nordmanniana ssp. bornmülleriana (Mattf.) Coode & Cullen) shigometre ve artım burgusunun Heterobasidion annosum s.l. ve diğer funguslardan kaynaklanan kök ve alt gövde çürüklüğünün tespitinde kullanım olanakları araştırılmıştır. Seçilen ağaçların yakınında veya çevresinde, H. annosum’ un neden olduğu tipik beyaz çürüklük belirtisini ya da üreme organlarını taşıyan kütükler bulunmasına dikkat edilmiştir. Ağaçlardan alınan artım kalemleri laboratuarda kültüre alınmış ve öncelikle Heterobasidion annosum olmak üzere diğer çürüklük funguslarının varlığı açısından incelenmiştir. Shigometre, toplam 20 ağacın 15’ inde elektriksel dirençte % 75’ in üzerinde düşüşe, başka bir deyişle ağaçta olası bir probleme işaret ederken, kültüre alınan artım çubuklarının sadece üçünden H. annosum s.l. izole edilebilmiştir. Shigometre ve artım burgusundan elde edilen sonuçların birbirinden farklı olmasının nedenleri arasında, diğer göknar türlerinde yaygın olduğu bilinen ıslak odun oluşumunun Uludağ göknarında da görülebilme olasılığı sayılabilir. Dolayısıyla, Uludağ göknarında shigometre ölçümleri üzerine ıslak odun oluşumunun ve çürüklüğe neden olan fungusların etkisinin belirlenmesi için daha detaylı araştırmalara gereksinim duyulmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Heterobasidion annosum, Beyaz çürüklük, Göknar, Shigometre, Artım burgus

Forewarned is forearmed : harmonized approaches for early detection of potentially invasive pests and pathogens in sentinel plantings

This work was supported by COST Action Global Warning (FP1401). DLM and YB contribution was also supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 17-04-01486). MG was supported by Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, Grant III43002. MKA was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland. NK was supported by Le Studium foundation (France) and RFBR (Grant No. 19-04-01029). RE, IF and MK contribution was also supported by CABI with core financial support from its member countries (see http://www.cabi.org/about-cabi/who-we-work-with/key-donors/ for details). IF contribution was further supported through a grant from the Swiss State Secretariat for Science, Education and Research (Grant C15.0081, awarded to RE).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Worldwide diversity of endophytic fungi and insects associated with dormant tree twigs

International trade in plants and climate change are two of the main factors causing damaging tree pests (i.e. fungi and insects) to spread into new areas. To mitigate these risks, a large-scale assessment of tree-associated fungi and insects is needed. We present records of endophytic fungi and insects in twigs of 17 angiosperm and gymnosperm genera, from 51 locations in 32 countries worldwide. Endophytic fungi were characterized by high-throughput sequencing of 352 samples from 145 tree species in 28 countries. Insects were reared from 227 samples of 109 tree species in 18 countries and sorted into taxonomic orders and feeding guilds. Herbivorous insects were grouped into morphospecies and were identified using molecular and morphological approaches. This dataset reveals the diversity of tree-associated taxa, as it contains 12,721 fungal Amplicon Sequence Variants and 208 herbivorous insect morphospecies, sampled across broad geographic and climatic gradients and for many tree species. This dataset will facilitate applied and fundamental studies on the distribution of fungal endophytes and insects in trees

Endophytes vs tree pathogens and pests: can they be used as biological control agents to improve tree health?

Like all other plants, trees are vulnerable to attack by a multitude of pests and pathogens. Current control measures for many of these diseases are limited and relatively ineffective. Several methods, including the use of conventional synthetic agro-chemicals, are employed to reduce the impact of pests and diseases. However, because of mounting concerns about adverse effects on the environment and a variety of economic reasons, this limited management of tree diseases by chemical methods is losing ground. The use of biological control, as a more environmentally friendly alternative, is becoming increasingly popular in plant protection. This can include the deployment of soil inoculants and foliar sprays, but the increased knowledge of microbial ecology in the phytosphere, in particular phylloplane microbes and endophytes, has stimulated new thinking for biocontrol approaches. Endophytes are microbes that live within plant tissues. As such, they hold potential as biocontrol agents against plant diseases because they are able to colonize the same ecological niche favoured by many invading pathogens. However, the development and exploitation of endophytes as biocontrol agents will have to overcome numerous challenges. The optimization and improvement of strategies employed in endophyte research can contribute towards discovering effective and competent biocontrol agents. The impact of environment and plant genotype on selecting potentially beneficial and exploitable endophytes for biocontrol is poorly understood. How endophytes synergise or antagonise one another is also an important factor. This review focusses on recent research addressing the biocontrol of plant diseases and pests using endophytic fungi and bacteria, alongside the challenges and limitations encountered and how these can be overcome. We frame this review in the context of tree pests and diseases, since trees are arguably the most difficult plant species to study, work on and manage, yet they represent one of the most important organisms on Earth

Endophytes vs tree pathogens and pests: can they be used as biological control agents to improve tree health?

Like all other plants, trees are vulnerable to attack by a multitude of pests and pathogens. Current control measures for many of these diseases are limited and relatively ineffective. Several methods, including the use of conventional synthetic agro-chemicals, are employed to reduce the impact of pests and diseases. However, because of mounting concerns about adverse effects on the environment and a variety of economic reasons, this limited management of tree diseases by chemical methods is losing ground. The use of biological control, as a more environmentally friendly alternative, is becoming increasingly popular in plant protection. This can include the deployment of soil inoculants and foliar sprays, but the increased knowledge of microbial ecology in the phytosphere, in particular phylloplane microbes and endophytes, has stimulated new thinking for biocontrol approaches. Endophytes are microbes that live within plant tissues. As such, they hold potential as biocontrol agents against plant diseases because they are able to colonize the same ecological niche favoured by many invading pathogens. However, the development and exploitation of endophytes as biocontrol agents will have to overcome numerous challenges. The optimization and improvement of strategies employed in endophyte research can contribute towards discovering effective and competent biocontrol agents. The impact of environment and plant genotype on selecting potentially beneficial and exploitable endophytes for biocontrol is poorly understood. How endophytes synergise or antagonise one another is also an important factor. This review focusses on recent research addressing the biocontrol of plant diseases and pests using endophytic fungi and bacteria, alongside the challenges and limitations encountered and how these can be overcome. We frame this review in the context of tree pests and diseases, since trees are arguably the most difficult plant species to study, work on and manage, yet they represent one of the most important organisms on Earth