Dothistroma septosporum identified in Greece on Pinus brutia and Pinus nigra plantations

No abstract available.http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/loi/pdishb201

Novel species of Huntiella from naturally-occurring forest trees in Greece and South Africa

Huntiella species are wood-infecting, filamentous ascomycetes that occur in fresh wounds on a wide variety of tree species. These fungi are mainly known as saprobes although some have been associated with disease symptoms. Six fungal isolates with typical culture characteristics of Huntiella spp. were collected from wounds on native forest trees in Greece and South Africa. The aim of this study was to identify these isolates, using morphological characters and multigene phylogenies of the rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, portions of the β-tubulin (BT1) and translation elongation factor 1α (TEF-1α) genes. The mating strategies of these fungi were also determined through PCR amplification of mating type genes. The study revealed two new species; one from Platanus orientalis in Greece and one from Colophospermum mopane and Senegalia nigrescens in South Africa. These novel taxa have been provided with the names, H. hellenica sp. nov. and H. krugeri sp. nov., respectively. The former species was found to have a homothallic and the latter a heterothallic mating system.Supplementary material 1 : Figure S1. ML tree of Huntiella species generated from the ITS DNA sequence data Authors: FeiFei Liu, Seonju Marincowitz, ShuaiFei Chen, Michael Mbenoun, Panaghiotis Tsopelas, Nikoleta Soulioti, Michael J. Wingfield Data type: phylogenetic tree Explanation note: Sequences generated from this study are printed in bold type. Bold branches indicate posterior probabilities values ≥ 0.9. Bootstrap values and posterior probabilities value are presented above branches as ML/MP/BI. Bootstrap value < 50% or probabilities values < 0.9 are marked with *. Nodes lacking the support value are marked with -. Ceratocystis cercfabiensis (CMW 43029) represents the outgroup. Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited. Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.69.53205.suppl1Supplementary material 2 : Figure S2. ML tree of Huntiella species generated from the BT1 DNA sequence data Authors: FeiFei Liu, Seonju Marincowitz, ShuaiFei Chen, Michael Mbenoun, Panaghiotis Tsopelas, Nikoleta Soulioti, Michael J. Wingfield Data type: phylogenetic tree Explanation note: Sequences generated from this study are printed in bold type. Bold branches indicate posterior probabilities values ≥ 0.9. Bootstrap values and posterior probabilities values are presented above branches as ML/MP/BI. Bootstrap value < 50% or probabilities values < 0.9 are marked with *. Nodes lacking the support value are marked with -. Ceratocystis cercfabiensis (CMW 43029) represents the outgroup. Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited. Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.69.53205.suppl2 52 FeiFei Liu et al. / MycoKeys 69: 33–52 (2020)Supplementary material 3 : Figure S3. ML tree of Huntiella species generated from the TEF-1α DNA sequence data Authors: FeiFei Liu, Seonju Marincowitz, ShuaiFei Chen, Michael Mbenoun, Panaghiotis Tsopelas, Nikoleta Soulioti, Michael J. Wingfield Data type: phylogenetic tree Explanation note: Sequences generated from this study are printed in bold type. Bold branches indicate posterior probabilities values ≥ 0.9. Bootstrap values and posterior probabilities values are presented above branches as ML/MP/BI. Bootstrap value < 50% or probabilities values < 0.9 are marked with *. Nodes lacking the support value are marked with -. Ceratocystis cercfabiensis (CMW 43029) represents the outgroup. Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited. Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.69.53205.suppl3Members of Tree Protection and Cooperation Programme (TPCP) and the National Research Foundation (NRF), South Africa.https://mycokeys.pensoft.netam2021BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Ceratocystis ficicola causing a serious disease of Ficus carica in Greece

Ceratocystis ficicola causes vascular wilt of fig trees in Japan, invading root systems and the main stems eventually leading to tree death. In surveys from 2018 to 2020 in fig orchards in Greece, this fungus was detected in two separated regions. The fungus was consistently isolated from infected wood and from rhizosphere soil. The isolates were identified based on multi-locus phylogenetic analyses of rpb2, bt1 and tef1 gene regions and detailed morphological characteristics, including comparisons with an ex-type isolate of C. ficicola from Japan. The pathogenicity of Greek isolates was proven on Ficus carica and F. benjamina plants. Ceratocystis ficicola is a soilborne pathogen, and the occurrence of vascular wilt outbreaks suggest that the pathogen spreads within and between orchards with infested soil and wood debris during ploughing. The pathogen is also spreading in Greece with infected propagation material. This is the first detailed report of C. ficicola outside Japan, and there is concern over potential spread of the pathogen to other Mediterranean countries, where approx. 70% of the world fig production occurs.The Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation Center of Excellence in Plant Health Biotechnology, South Africa.https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/pmam2022BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Global Geographic Distribution and Host Range of Fusarium circinatum, the Causal Agent of Pine Pitch Canker

Funding: This study was financially supported by COST Action FP1406 (PINESTRENGTH), the Estonian Science Foundation grant PSG136, the Forestry Commission, United Kingdom, the Phytophthora Research Centre Reg. No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000453, a project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. ANSES is supported by a grant managed by the French National Research Agency (ANR) as part of the “Investissements d’Avenir” programme (ANR-11-LABX-0002-01, Laboratory of ExcellenceARBRE). SW was partly supported by BBSRC Grant reference BB/L012251/1 “Promoting resilience of UK tree species to novel pests & pathogens: ecological & evolutionary solutions (PROTREE)” jointly funded by BBSRC, Defra, ESRC, the Forestry Commission, NERC and the Scottish Government, under the Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Initiative. Annual surveys in Switzerland were financially supported by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment FOEN. Acknowledgments: Andrea Kunova and Cristina Pizzatti are acknowledged for the assistance in the sampling. Thanks are due to Dina Ribeiro and Helena Marques from ICNF-Portuguese Forest Authority for providing location coordinates. We thank three anonymous reviwers for valuable corrections and suggestions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

First report of Diplodia corticola in Greece on kermes oak (Quercus coccifera)

In 2007, symptoms of extensive branch and shoot dieback were observed on kermes oak (Q. coccifera) shrubs and trees in some localities in the Messinia prefecture of south western Peloponnese, Greece. The symptoms were more intense during the summer, with abundant dead branches and twigs with wilted leaves. Cankers were detected on the branches and twigs showing symptoms. Cankers were also evident on larger branches with no apparent foliar symptoms. In many of the branch samples taken, dark brown to black pycnidia were observed to emerge through the bark on the canker surfaces. Morphological characteristics and nucleotide sequences of the ITS region of ribosomal DNA (GenBank accession nos. GQ396149-GQ396153) confirmed the identification of the fungus as D. corticola. This is the first record of D. corticola in Greece and Q. coccifera is a new host of the fungus in Europe

First report of Diplodia corticola in Greece on kermes oak (Quercus coccifera)

In 2007, symptoms of extensive branch and shoot dieback were observed on kermes oak (Q. coccifera) shrubs and trees in some localities in the Messinia prefecture of south western Peloponnese, Greece. The symptoms were more intense during the summer, with abundant dead branches and twigs with wilted leaves. Cankers were detected on the branches and twigs showing symptoms. Cankers were also evident on larger branches with no apparent foliar symptoms. In many of the branch samples taken, dark brown to black pycnidia were observed to emerge through the bark on the canker surfaces. Morphological characteristics and nucleotide sequences of the ITS region of ribosomal DNA (GenBank accession nos. GQ396149-GQ396153) confirmed the identification of the fungus as D. corticola. This is the first record of D. corticola in Greece and Q. coccifera is a new host of the fungus in Europe

Molecular and morphological characterization of Dothiorella casuarini sp. nov. and other Botryosphaeriaceae with diplodia-like conidia

After recent changes to the taxonomy of the Botryosphaeriaceae species with diplodia-like (5 dark, ovoid, often pigmented) conidia are considered to belong to at least three genera including Diplodia, Lasiodiplodia and Dothiorella. In a recent molecular phylogenetic study it became apparent that two groups of isolates with diplodia-like conidia required taxonomic revision. One group of isolates originated from Cupressus sempervirens in Greece and Cyprus and had been identified as D. pinea f. sp. cupressi based on morphological characteristics. The other isolates originated from a Casuarina sp. in Australia and were superficially similar to those in the first group based on their morphologically similar diplodia-like conidia. The aim of this study was to resolve the taxonomy of these two groups of isolates by combining the information from the multiple gene genealogies with morphological characters. The results showed that the isolates from C. sempervirens in Greece and Cyprus represent D. cupressi. The isolates from Casuarina in Australia belong to the more distantly related genus Dothiorella and represent a distinct species that is described here as Do. casuarini sp. nov

Potential interactions between invasive Fusarium circinatum and other pine pathogens in Europe

Pines are major components of native forests and plantations in Europe, where they have both economic significance and an important ecological role. Diseases of pines are mainly caused by fungal and oomycete pathogens, and can significantly reduce the survival, vigor, and yield of both individual trees and entire stands or plantations. Pine pitch canker (PPC), caused by Fusarium circinatum (Nirenberg and O'Donnell), is among the most devastating pine diseases in the world, and is an example of an emergent invasive disease in Europe. The effects of microbial interactions on plant health, as well as the possible roles plant microbiomes may have in disease expression, have been the focus of several recent studies. Here, we describe the possible effects of co-infection with pathogenic fungi and oomycetes with F. circinatum on the health of pine seedlings and mature plants, in an attempt to expand our understanding of the role that biotic interactions may play in the future of PPC disease in European nurseries and forests. The available information on pine pathogens that are able to co-occur with F. circinatum in Europe is here reviewed and interpreted to theoretically predict the effects of such co-occurrences on pine survival, growth, and yield. Beside the awareness that F. circinatum may co-occurr on pines with other pathogens, an additional outcome from this review is an updating of the literature, including the so-called grey literature, to document the geographical distribution of the relevant pathogens and to facilitate differential diagnoses, particularly in nurseries, where some of them may cause symptoms similar to those induced by F. circinatum. An early and accurate diagnosis of F. circinatum, a pathogen that has been recently introduced and that is currently regulated in Europe, is essential to prevent its introduction and spread in plantings and forests