Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Botryosphaeriaceae species associated with wood diseases of stone and pome fruits trees: symptoms and virulence across different hosts in Uruguay

  • Published:
European Journal of Plant Pathology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Apple, pear and peach orchards are usually planted in close proximity, and they might share pathogenic fungal species affecting different plant organs. In particular, species of Botryosphaeriaceae have been indicated as responsible for wood diseases in these fruit species. Symptoms frequently observed in Uruguay include papyraceous cankers in apple trunks, dead shoots in pears, and gummosis in peach shoots and branches. Symptomatic tissues of these species were sampled, and fungi resembling species within Botryosphaeriaceae were isolated and identified based on phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), part of the translation elongation factor 1-α gene (EF1-α) and part of the RNA polymerase II subunit gen (RPB2). Pathogenicity of selected isolates was assessed under laboratory and field conditions. Botryosphaeria dothidea, Diplodia seriata and Neofusicoccum parvum were isolated from the three hosts from symptomatic tissues. However, only N. parvum proved to be pathogenic when inoculated on trees of all three species, while D. seriata showed pathogenicity towards apple and peach trees only. Diplodia mutila and N. australe were isolated less frequently and not from all the host species. However, they were the most virulent based on lesion length on all tested plant species. The fact that fungal isolates obtained from one host could cause disease symptoms also in some of the alternative hosts suggests that cross infections are possible between apple, pear and peach trees. Finally, Diplodia pseudoseriata in Prunus persica and Diplodia mutila in Pyrus communis, are new records for these hosts in Uruguay.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abreo, E. (2011). Comunidad fúngica asociada a las enfermedades del tronco de la vid en Uruguay: Composición, diagnóstico molecular y patogenicidad. Tesis de Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas. UdelaR, Uruguay: PEDECIBA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abreo, E., Martinez, S., Bettucci, L., & Lupo, S. (2013). Characterization of Botryosphaeriaceae species associated with grapevines in Uruguay. Australasian Plant Pathology, 42, 241–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Britton, K. O., & Hendrix, F. F. (1989). Infection of peach buds by Botryosphaeria obtusa. Plant Disease, 73, 68–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carbone, I., & Khon, L. M. (1999). A method for designing primer sets for speciation studies in filamentous ascomycetes. Mycologia, 91, 553–556.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cloete, M., Fourie, H. P., Damm, U., Crous, P. W., & Mostert, L. (2011). Fungi associated with die-back symptoms of apple and pear trees, a possible inoculum source of grapevine trunk disease pathogens. Phytopathologia Mediterranea, 50, S176–S190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crous, P. W., Slippers, B., Wingfield, M. J., Reheeder, J., Marasas, W. F. O., Phillips, A. J. L., Alves, A., Burguess, T., Barber, P., & Groenwald, J. Z. (2006). Phylogenetic lineages in the Botyosphaeriaceae. Studies in Mycology, 55, 235–253.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Damm, U., Crous, P. W., & Fourie, P. H. (2007). Botryosphaeriaceae as potential pathogens of Prunus species in South Africa, with descriptions of Diplodia africana and Lasiodiplodia plurivora sp. nov. Mycologia, 99, 664–680.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Delgado, L. (2013). Caracterización de especies de Botryosphaeriaceae asociadas al cultivo de manzano en Uruguay, Tesis de Maestría en Ciencias Biológicas, opción Microbiología. UdelaR, Uruguay: PEDECIBA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gramaje, D., Agustí-Brisach, C., Pérez-Sierra, A., Moralejo, E., Olmo, D., Mostert, L., Damm, U., & Armengol, J. (2012). Fungal trunk pathogens associated with wood decay of almond trees on Mallorca (Spain). Persoonia, 28, 1–13.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hammer, Ø., Harper, D. A. T., & Ryan, P. D. (2001). PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica, 4, 9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hills, D. M., & Bull, J. J. (1993). An empirical test of bootstrapping as a method for assessing confidence in phylogenetic analysis. Systematic Biology, 42, 182–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laundon, G. F. (1973). Botryosphaeria obtusa, B. stevensii and Otthia spireae in New Zeland. Transactions of the British Mycological Society, 61, 369–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S., & Taylor, J. (1990). Isolation of DNA from fungal mycelia and single spores. In M. A. Innis, D. H. Gelfand, J. J. Sninsky, & T. J. White (Eds.), PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications (pp. 282–287). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linaldeddu, B. T., Scanu, B., Schiaffino, A., & Serra, S. (2010). First report of Neofusicoccum australe associated with grapevine cordon dieback in Italy. Phytopathologia Mediterranea., 49, 417–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehl, J. W., Slippers, B., Roux, J., & Wingfield, M. J. (2011). Botryosphaeriaceae associated with Pterocarpus angolensis (kiaat) in South Africa. Mycologia, 103, 534–553.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez, C. A., Wingfield, M. J., Slippers, B., Altier, N. A., & Blanchette, R. A. (2010). Endophytic and canker-associated Botryosphaeriaceae occurring on non-native Eucalyptus and native Myrtaceae trees in Uruguay. Fungal Diversity, 41, 53–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pusey, P. L. (1993). Role of Botryosphaeria species in peach tree gummosis on the basis of differential isolation from outer and inner bark. Plant Disease, 77, 170–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pusey, P. L., Kitajima, H., & Wu, Y. (1995). Fungal gummosis. In J. M. Ogawa, E. I. Zehr, G. W. Bird, D. F. Ritchie, K. Uriu, & J. K. Uyemoto (Eds.), Compendium of stone fruit diseases (p. 98). St Paul: APS Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Gálvez, E., Maldonado, E., & Alves, A. (2014). Identification and pathogenicity of Lasiodiplodia theobromae causing dieback of table grapes in Peru. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 141, 477–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakalidis, M. L. (2004). Resolving the Botryosphaeria ribis - Botryosphaeria parva species complex; a molecular and phenotypic investigation. Honors Thesis: School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University, Western Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen, Y. M., Chao, C. H., & Liu, H. L. (2010). First report of Neofusicoccum parvum associated with stem canker and dieback of asian pear trees in Taiwan. Plant Disease, 94, 1062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slippers, B., Smit, W. A., Crous, P. W., Coutinho, T. A., Wingfield, B. D., & Wingfield, M. J. (2007). Taxonomy, phylogeny and identification of Botryosphaeriaceae associated with pome and stone fruit trees in South Africa and other regions of the world. Plant Pathology, 56, 128–139.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swofford, D. L. (2002). Paup*, Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (*and other methods), version 4.0b10. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamura, K., Stecher, G., Peterson, D., Filipski, A., & Kumar, S. (2013). MEGA6: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 6.0. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 30, 2725–2729.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, A., Hardy, G. E. S. J., Wood, P., & Burgues, T. (2005). Identification and pathogenicity of Botryosphaeria species associated with grapevine decline in Western Australia. Australasian Plant Pathology, 34, 187–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Úrbez-Torres, J. R., & Gubler, W. D. (2009). Pathogenicity and epidemiology of Botryosphaeriaceae from grapevines in California. Plant Disease, 93, 584–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Úrbez-Torres, J. R., Leavitt, G. M., Guerrero, J. C., Guevara, J., & Gubler, W. D. (2008). Identification and pathogenicity of Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Diplodia seriata, the causal agents of bot canker disease of grapevines in Mexico. Plant Disease, 92, 519–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Úrbez-Torres, J. R., Bruez, E., Hurtado, J., & Gubler, W. D. (2010). Effect of temperature on conidial germination of Botryosphaeriaceae species infecting grapevines. Plant Disease, 94, 1476–1484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Niekerk, J. M., Crous, P. W., Groenewald, J. Z., Fourie, P. H., & Halleen, F. (2004). DNA phylogeny, morphology and pathogenicity of Botryosphaeria species on grapevines. Mycologia, 96, 781–798.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Niekerk, J. M., Fourie, P. H., Halleen, F., & Crous, P. W. (2006). Botryosphaeria spp. as grapevine trunk disease pathogens. Phytopathologia Mediterranea, 45, S43–S54.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Niekerk, J. M., Bester, W., Halleen, F., Crous, P. W., & Fourie, P. H. (2011). The distribution and symptomatology of grapevine trunk disease pathogens are influenced by climate. Phytopathologia Mediterranea, 50, S98–S111.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, T. J., Bruns, T., Lee, S., & Taylor, J. (1990). Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. In M. A. Innis, D. H. Gelfand, J. J. Sninsky, & T. J. White (Eds.), PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications (pp. 315–322). San Diego: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Universidad de la República and Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (ANII) for financial support and Tec. Ag. Pablo Rodriguez at INIA Las Brujas for providing symptomatic samples.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Micología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá, 4225, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Lucia Sessa, Lina Bettucci & Sandra Lupo

  2. Laboratorio de Bioproducción, INIA Las Brujas, Ruta 48 Km.10, Canelones, Uruguay

    Eduardo Abreo

Authors
  1. Lucia Sessa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eduardo Abreo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lina Bettucci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sandra Lupo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lucia Sessa.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sessa, L., Abreo, E., Bettucci, L. et al. Botryosphaeriaceae species associated with wood diseases of stone and pome fruits trees: symptoms and virulence across different hosts in Uruguay. Eur J Plant Pathol 146, 519–530 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-016-0936-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-016-0936-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation