First Report of Powdery Mildew (Pseudoidium anacardii) of Mango Trees in Sinaloa, Mexico

Powdery mildew of mango is an important disease in Mexico's northern Sinaloa state. Identification of the causal fungal agent has been hindered by the absence of information regarding its teleomorph, as well as a detailed morphometric analysis of the anamorph and molecular characterization. The first symptoms of the disease appear in mango inflorescences of early February, and it subsequently affects young fruits. The disease progresses during March and early April, causing significant fruit abortion and a scabby appearance in a high percentage of fruits that remain attached to the trees. We observed the disease on inflorescences but not in leaves during our sampling period. Powdery mildew specimens were collected during 2011 and 2012 and included Kent and Keith varieties from commercial orchards, and creole materials from backyards of private residences in the Ahome and Fuerte Counties of northern Sinaloa, Mexico. Symptomatic inflorescences were analyzed morphologically. Conidiophores and conidia were prepared by touching the whitish lesions with clear adhesive tape, which was then placed over microscope slides with a drop of distilled water and observed under a compound microscope. The anamorph structures of the pathogen were measured. The mycelium was septate and ramified on the surface of the host, forming a dense coat of branching hyphae. The mycelium had a diameter of 2.5 to 8.7 μm; conidiophores (Pseudoidium type) emerged from the superficial mycelium, were unbranched, and consisted of 1 to 3 cells with conidia forming singly from the apex. The length of the conidiophores varied from 30.0 to 77.5 μm; the foot cell of the conidiophores was straight, 10.0 to 47.5 μm long and with a diameter of 5.0 to 15.5 μm across its midpoint. Conidia without fibrosin bodies were borne singly, and were ellipsoid/ovoid, 22.5 to 46.2 μm long and 15.0 to 27.5 μm wide. Eighty percent of the germ tubes were forked (lobed); the rest were simple, emerged from the end, and were occasionally on the side of the conidia. Germ tubes ranged from 2.0 to 7.2 μm at the midpoint. The surface of the conidia appeared smooth under the scanning electron microscope, and elliptical conidia appeared constricted at their ends; this, however, was not observed in the ovoid conidia. In both cases, the terminal end of the conidia was smooth. The teleomorph was not found. Molecular and phylogenetic analysis of the ITS rDNA (2) region showed that samples are closely related to specimens of Pseudoidium anacardii (1) (teleomorph: Erysiphe quercicola [4]) collected from mango trees in diverse countries. Measurements of somatic and asexual structures are in agreement with descriptions of P. anachardii (formerly known as Oidium mangiferae) from India (3). The nucleotide sequences derived from this research were deposited in GenBank (Accession Nos. JX893951 to JX893957). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. anacardii associated to mango inflorescences in Sinaloa, Mexico. Due to the economic importance of powdery mildew of mango trees in Sinaloa, future research directions should focus on finding the teleomorph of the fungus to support its identity

Environmental, geographical and time-related impacts on avian malaria infections in native and introduced populations of house sparrows (Passer domesticus), a globally invasive species

AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S This study was funded by projects: IB20089 from the Consejería de Economía, Ciencia y Agenda Digital of the Junta de Extremadura and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, P11-RNM-7038 from Junta de Andalucía, and PR(19_ECO_0070) from Ayudas Fundación BBVA a Equipos de Investigación Científica 2019. MF was supported by a Juan de la Cierva 2017 Formación contract (FJCI-2017-34394) from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie (grant agreement No 844285, ‘EpiEcoMod’) and she is currently funded by a Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral contract (RYC2021- 031613-I) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN). JJP was supported by the Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno. JMP was supported by ProyExcel_00049 financed by Proyectos I+D+i of Junta de Andalucía 2021. LGL was supported by Junta de Extremadura (IB20089, Post-Doc grant). JM was supported by a Juan de la Cierva - Formación contract (FJCI-2017-34109) from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and he is currently supported by a postdoctoral researcher contract for scientific excellence under the Plan Propio de I+D+i of the Universidad de Castilla - La Mancha (UCLM), co-funded by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). LZG was supported by funds from the Hungary's National Research, Development and Innovation Office (K135841, RRF-2.3.1-21-2022- 00006). We also acknowledge the comments of four anonymous reviewers who improved the final version of this manuscript.DATA AVA I L A B I L I T Y S TAT E M E N T Data supporting the conclusions of this study are available in the supplementary material to this article. Any further details are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Aim The increasing spread of vector-borne diseases has resulted in severe health concerns for humans, domestic animals and wildlife, with changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species being among the main possible causes for this increase. We explored several ecological drivers potentially affecting the local prevalence and richness of avian malaria parasite lineages in native and introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) populations. Location Global. Time period 2002–2019. Major taxa studied Avian Plasmodium parasites in house sparrows. Methods We analysed data from 2,220 samples from 69 localities across all continents, except Antarctica. The influence of environment (urbanization index and human density), geography (altitude, latitude, hemisphere) and time (bird breeding season and years since introduction) were analysed using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) and random forests. Results Overall, 670 sparrows (30.2%) were infected with 22 Plasmodium lineages. In native populations, parasite prevalence was positively related to urbanization index, with the highest prevalence values in areas with intermediate urbanization levels. Likewise, in introduced populations, prevalence was positively associated with urbanization index; however, higher infection occurred in areas with either extreme high or low levels of urbanization. In introduced populations, the number of parasite lineages increased with altitude and with the years elapsed since the establishment of sparrows in a new locality. Here, after a decline in the number of parasite lineages in the first 30 years, an increase from 40 years onwards was detected. Main conclusions Urbanization was related to parasite prevalence in both native and introduced bird populations. In invaded areas, altitude and time since bird introduction were related to the number of Plasmodium lineages found to be infecting sparrows.Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía, Grant/Award Number: P11-RNM-7038Fundación BBVA, Grant/Award Number: PR(19_ECO_0070Junta de Extremadura, Grant/Award Number: IB20089 and PO17024Marie Sklodowska- Curie Actions, Grant/Award Number: 844285Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Grant/Award Number: FJCI-2017-34109 and FJCI-2017-34394Proyectos I+D+i of Junta de Andalucía 2021, Grant/Award Number: ProyExcel_00049Universidad de Castilla- La Manch

Impactos ambientales, geográficos y relacionados con el tiempo en las infecciones por malaria aviar en poblaciones nativas e introducidas de gorriones domésticos (Passer domesticus), una especie invasora a nivel mundial

Aim: The increasing spread of vector-borne diseases has resulted in severe health concerns for humans, domestic animals and wildlife, with changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species being among the main possible causes for this increase. We explored several ecological drivers potentially affecting the local prevalence and richness of avian malaria parasite lineages in native and introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) populations. Location: Global. Time period: 2002–2019. Major taxa studied: Avian Plasmodium parasites in house sparrows. Methods: We analysed data from 2,220 samples from 69 localities across all continents, except Antarctica. The influence of environment (urbanization index and human density), geography (altitude, latitude, hemisphere) and time (bird breeding season and years since introduction) were analysed using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) and random forests. Results: Overall, 670 sparrows (30.2%) were infected with 22 Plasmodium lineages. In native populations, parasite prevalence was positively related to urbanization index, with the highest prevalence values in areas with intermediate urbanization levels. Likewise, in introduced populations, prevalence was positively associated with urbanization index; however, higher infection occurred in areas with either extreme high or low levels of urbanization. In introduced populations, the number of parasite lineages increased with altitude and with the years elapsed since the establishment of sparrows in a new locality. Here, after a decline in the number of parasite lineages in the first 30 years, an increase from 40 years onwards was detected. Main conclusions: Urbanization was related to parasite prevalence in both native and introduced bird populations. In invaded areas, altitude and time since bird introduction were related to the number of Plasmodium lineages found to be infecting sparrows.Objetivo: La creciente propagación de enfermedades transmitidas por vectores ha generado graves problemas de salud para los seres humanos, los animales domésticos y la vida silvestre, y los cambios en el uso de la tierra y la introducción de especies invasoras se encuentran entre las principales causas posibles de este aumento. Exploramos varios impulsores ecológicos que podrían afectar la prevalencia local y la riqueza de linajes de parásitos de la malaria aviar en poblaciones nativas e introducidas de gorriones domésticos (Passer domesticus). Ubicación: Mundial. Período de tiempo: 2002–2019. Principales taxones estudiados: parásitos aviares Plasmodium en gorriones domésticos. Métodos: Analizamos datos de 2220 muestras de 69 localidades de todos los continentes, excepto la Antártida. La influencia del medio ambiente (índice de urbanización y densidad humana), la geografía (altitud, latitud, hemisferio) y el tiempo (temporada de reproducción de aves y años desde la introducción) se analizaron utilizando modelos mixtos aditivos generalizados (GAMM) y bosques aleatorios. Resultados: En general, 670 gorriones (30,2%) estaban infectados con 22 linajes de Plasmodium. En poblaciones nativas, la prevalencia del parásito se relacionó positivamente con el índice de urbanización, con los valores de prevalencia más altos en áreas con niveles de urbanización intermedios. Asimismo, en poblaciones introducidas, la prevalencia se asoció positivamente con el índice de urbanización; sin embargo, se produjo una mayor infección en áreas con niveles de urbanización extremadamente altos o bajos. En las poblaciones introducidas, el número de linajes de parásitos aumentó con la altitud y con los años transcurridos desde el establecimiento de los gorriones en una nueva localidad. Aquí, después de una disminución en el número de linajes de parásitos en los primeros 30 años, se detectó un aumento a partir de los 40 años. Conclusiones principales: La urbanización se relacionó con la prevalencia de parásitos en las poblaciones de aves nativas e introducidas. En las áreas invadidas, la altitud y el tiempo transcurrido desde la introducción de las aves se relacionaron con el número de linajes de Plasmodium que infectaron a los gorriones