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Susceptibility of olive cultivar inoculated with Neofusicoccum mediterraneum on detached branches and potted plants and Botryosphaeria dothidea on detached fruit w
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Over two consecutive seasons, 16 olive orchards with trees exhibiting dieback symptoms on branches were surveyed in southern Spain. The six dominant fungal species recovered were characterized by means of phenotypic observations, DNA analysis (by sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer, b-tubulin, and large subunit nuclear ribosomal DNA regio...
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Context 1
... inoculation with N. mediterraneum. In March 2010, branch segments (14 to 18 cm long and 1.0 to 1.5 cm in diameter) were cut from 10 table olive cultivars growing at The Cultivar Garden orchard (Table 2). Sampling and inoculation were conducted as described above. ...Context 2
... inoculation with N. mediterraneum. Five-year-old potted plants of seven table cultivars were obtained from a commercial nursery in Cordoba province from Andalusia (Table 2). Each plant was inoculated with N. mediterraneum using mycelial plugs as described above. ...Context 3
... inoculation with B. dothidea. In September 2010, immature fruit of 10 table cultivars were collected from The Cultivar Garden orchard (Table 2). Fruit were washed, disinfested, and inoculated according to Moral et al. (2010). ...Context 4
... to the lesion on detached and inoculated branches, 'Gordal Sevillana' was significantly (P < 0.05) the most susceptible to the pathogen (necrosis length 15.72 ± 4.62 cm), followed by 'Santa Caterina' and 'San Agostino', which did not show significant differences (P > 0.05) among them. Conversely, 'Manzanilla Cacereña' was the least susceptible cultivar (necrosis length 6.19 ± 2.11 cm), followed by 'Verdial de Huévar' and 'Morona', which did not show significant (P > 0.05) differences among them (Table 2). For all of the cultivars, a weak but significant negative correlation (R 2 = 0.190, P = 0.0001) between branch diameter and length of necrosis was observed, showing that branch susceptibility increased when the diameter of branches decreased. ...Context 5
... plants showed the first symptoms at 14 days after inoculation, while the first dead branches were observed at 8 weeks. In the potted plant trials, 'Manzanilla Cacereña' and 'Gordal Sevillana' showed a high percentage of dead branches, 83.33 and 62.50%, respectively, whereas 'Aloreña de Atarfe', 'Hojiblanca', and 'Verdial de Huévar' did not produce any dead branches (Table 2). According to necrosis length, 'Manzanilla Cacereña' and 'Gordal Sevillana' were also the most susceptible to the pathogen (necrosis lengths of 10.6 ± 3.27 and 10.38 ± 2.52 cm, respectively) without significant differences between them. ...Context 6
... were small, depressed, necrotic lesions surrounding the inoculation point that advanced until they covered the entire surface of the fruit. 'Hojiblanca', 'Manzanilla de Sevilla', and 'Morona' olive fruit were the most resistant to B. dothidea, although there was an extensive overlap for the AUDPC showed by the fruit of the different cultivars (Table 2). The resistance to B. dothidea was not correlated (P = 0.6968) with the resistance to fruit rot caused by C. godetiae. ...Citations
... Fourteen accessions were evaluated as resistant and the highest level of resistance was identified in Malus sieboldii Rehder, which was effective against different isolates of the tested fungus. Similar results were also found in pathogenicity studies using different fungal species and host plants [43][44][45][46][47][48] . The virulence of the tested fungal isolates as measured by lesion length was varied and this could be attributed to the genetic diversity among the isolates. ...
Apple is the most important fruit tree in West Azarbaijan province of Iran. In a survey of apple orchards, a disease with crown and collar canker and necrosis symptoms was observed in three young apple orchards in Urmia, affecting 15% and 1% of ‘Red Delicious’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ cultivars, respectively. A fungus with typical characteristics of the asexual morph of Cytospora was regularly isolated from the diseased tissues. Morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses inferred from the combined dataset of the ITS-rDNA, parts of LSU, tef1-α, rpb2, and act1 genes revealed that the isolates represent a new species of Cytospora, described herein as Cytospora balanejica sp. nov.. The pathogenicity of all isolates was confirmed on apple cv. ‘Red Delicious’ based on Koch’s postulates. Also, the reaction of 12 other apple cultivars was assessed against five selected isolates with the highest virulence. The results showed that except for cv. ‘Braeburn’, which did not produce any symptoms of the disease, the other 11 cultivars showed characteristic disease symptoms including sunken and discolored bark and wood. The mean length of the discolored area was different among the 11 so-called susceptible cultivars, hence cvs. ‘M4’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ showed the highest and the lowest lesion length, respectively. Moreover, the aggressiveness of the five tested isolates was different, and the isolates BA 2-4 and BA 3-1 had the highest and lowest aggressiveness, respectively. Based on our observations on the potential ability of the fungus to cause disease on young and actively growing apple trees, it will be a serious threat to apple cultivation and industry.
... Comoclathris clematidis was found on dried stems of Clematis species in the subtropical zone of Yunnan Province, China. The majority of Comoclathris species are found in temperate regions, but only C. incompta (CH-16) has been identified in subtropical regions (Moral et al. 2017). Comoclathris clematidis differs from C. flammulae which was also found on Clematis by its larger asci (114-174 × 27-43 µm vs. 50-55 × 13-17 µm) and larger ascospores (22-39 × 8-21 µm vs. 16-22 × 10-16 µm). ...
... Comoclathris members are mostly distributed in the temperate areas (i.e. Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine and USA), while only C. incompta (CH-16) and C. antarctica (WA0000074564) have been reported in the subtropical and Arctic zones, respectively (Moral et al. 2017;Crous et al. 2021). In this study, C. clematidis (CCMJ 13076 and CCMJ 13077) was collected from Clematis species (Ranunculaceae) in Kunming City, which is located in the subtropical region. ...
Two novel Comoclathris species were identified from dicotyledonous plants ( Clematis sp. and Xanthoceras sorbifolium ) in China. The results were supported by morphological characters and Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI) analyses. Multi-gene phylogenetic analyses of the ITS, LSU, SSU and rpb 2 sequences revealed two new species Comoclathris clematidis and C. xanthoceratis , which are phylogenetically distinct. The new species are phylogenetically closely related to C. arrhenatheri. However, they are distinguishable from C. arrhenatheri by having comparatively larger asci and ascospores. This study improves our knowledge of Comoclathris as no species has been previously described from China. This suggests such taxa may be rare and it is likely that new taxa will be discovered from hosts and environments that have not yet been extensively investigated.
... In this study, we also observed the co-occurrence of Diaporthe spp. in the same nuts with members of Botryosphaeriaceae, as previously reported (Elfar et al. 2013;Guarnaccia et al. 2016;Moral et al. 2017). Such coexistence is not new, as it has been previously described on branch cankers and stem-end rot of different hosts in Italy and on hazelnuts in the Caucasus region (Battilani et al. 2018;Guarnaccia et al. 2016Guarnaccia et al. , 2020. ...
Hazelnut (Corylus avellana), a nut crop that is rapidly expanding worldwide, is endangered by a rot. Nut rot results in hazelnut defects. A survey was conducted in north-western Italy during 2020 and 2021 to identify the causal agents of hazelnut rots. Typical symptoms of black rot, mold, and necrotic spots were observed on hazelnut nuts. The prevalent fungi isolated from symptomatic hazelnut kernels were Diaporthe spp. (38%), Botryosphaeria dothidea (26%), Diplodia seriata (14%), and other fungal genera with less frequent occurrences. Among 161 isolated Diaporthe spp., 40 were selected for further analysis. Based on morphological characterization and multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of the ITS, tef1- α, and tub2, seven Diaporthe species were identified as D. eres, D. foeniculina, D. novem, D. oncostoma, D. ravennica, D. rudis, and D. sojae. D. eres was the main species isolated from hazelnut rots, in particular from moldy nuts. Pathogenicity test performed on hazelnut nuts ‘Tonda Gentile del Piemonte’ using a mycelium plug showed that all the Diaporthe isolates were pathogenic on their original host. To our knowledge, this work is the first report of D. novem, D. oncostoma and D. ravennica on hazelnut nuts worldwide. Diaporthe foeniculina, D. rudis, and D. sojae were reported for the first time as agents of hazelnut nut rot in Italy. Future studies should focus on the comprehension of epidemiology and climatic conditions favoring the development of Diaporthe spp. on hazelnut. Prevention and control measures should target D. eres, representing the main causal agents responsible for defects and nut rot of hazelnuts in Italy.
... Taxa in this genus are often encountered within agricultural crops, including O. europaea subsp. europaea (Carlucci et al. 2013;Moral et al. 2017;Gomes et al. 2018) and are implicate as causal agents of Petri disease and esca in grapevine in South Africa (Retief et al. 2006). In addition, Alternaria taxa were encountered within the African olive twigs from planted trees and within those cultivated (O. ...
Context Land use change can significantly affect
plant-fungal interactions.
Objectives We assessed how fungal endophytes
within African wild olive (Olea europaea subsp.
cuspidata) twigs are influenced by different levels of
land use change and differences in surrounding vegetation
types.
Methods Twigs were sampled in the Western Cape
Province (South Africa) and their fungal endophyte
assemblages were characterised using culture-independent
DNA metabarcoding. We assessed the
effects of land use change (natural, semi-natural and
planted (completely transformed)) and differences in
surrounding vegetation types (grasses/low-growing
plants versus shrubs/trees versus other olives) using
fungal endophyte alpha and beta diversity measures.
Co-occurrence networks were constructed to assess
assemblage connectivity under different scenarios and
to identify OTUs of potential ecological significance.
Results OTU richness, but not abundance, was significantly
influenced by both land use change and differences
in the surrounding vegetation types. Planted
African olives and those surrounded by heterospecific
trees harboured the highest OTU richness. Only levels
of land use change significantly influenced fungal endophyte
assemblage composition. Specifically, fungal
assemblages from natural habitats were distinct from
those in planted and semi-natural habitats, which were
similar to each other. Co-occurrence network analyses
revealed that cohesive and species-rich networks could only be maintained within the natural habitats.
... During our surveys, disease symptoms including twig dieback, branch cankers and vascular discoloration of the wood were observed on the two shrub species. Similar symptoms were previously described a range of hosts in Australia, Greece, Italy and Spain (Linaldeddu et al., 2011;Moral et al., 2017;Phillips et al., 2007;Slippers et al., 2004;Tsopelas et al., 2010). ...
Decline phenomena of shrub species such as Quercus coccifera and Retama raetam have occurred throughout Tunisian forests since 2012. These evergreen shrubs have long been regarded for their medicinal and ecological interests. Therefore, their preservation as valuable forest resources is of great interest. However, information regarding aetiology of this disease is still scarce. Hence, the aim of this study was to identify and characterize the causal agents associated with disease symptoms in two Tunisian forests. Thirty-eight isolates were obtained from symptomatic Q. coccifera and R. raetam twigs. Morphological characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene cluster and partial sequence of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene (tef1-α) allowed the identification of three Diplodia species namely Diplodia africana, D. seriata and D. pseudoseriata. Our findings revealed that the incidence of Diplodia species was significantly correlated to the altitude, the temperature and the rainfall. Pathogenicity test showed that all Diplodia isolates are pathogenic. However, D. africana revealed to be the most aggressive species toward R. raetam. These findings were the first record of D. seriata as fungal pathogen associated with Q. coccifera dieback and D. pseudoseriata and D. africana on R. raetam in Tunisia.
... One of the most harmful olive pathogens associated with the fungal canker of olives is species from the Botryosphaeriaceae family. The Botryophaeriaceae were found to be the most prevalent fungal family causing olive twig and branch dieback in California, Italy, and Spain [9][10][11]. Olive diseases are poorly studied in Croatia, with most research focusing on practical aspects of leaf spot, caused by Venturia oleaginea (Castagne) Rossman & Crous, and olive knot, caused by Pseudomonas savastanoi (Janse 1982) Gardan et al., management [12]. ...
... The first record of C. pruinosa on olives was in 2006 in South Africa [18]. In addition to Africa [18,46] it was found as a pathogen of olives in Spain [11]. Other Cytospora species known as olive pathogens are C. oleicola D.P. Lawr., L.A. Holland & Trouillas [5,31], C. oleina Berl. ...
... Moral et al. [11] reinforce the idea that inoculation in vivo is essential for the characterization of fungal pathogens. In their trial, C. pruinosa did not cause symptoms when tested on 5-year-old potted 'Gordal Sevilliana' olive trees in a greenhouse at 25 to 30 • C. Contradictory to their study, C. pruinosa formed the largest average lesion length of all the isolates used in a study conducted in 2021 in South Africa [46]. ...
Olive (Olea europaea L.) is a very important crop grown in the Mediterranean part of Croatia. Olive branch and fruit dieback symptoms were observed in two olive orchards in Istria, Croatia. The samples from symptomatic trees were collected and brought to the laboratory for analysis. Based on their morphological characterization, isolated fungi were identified as Cytospora sp. Two
representative isolates (one per orchard) were taken for molecular analysis, and based on DNA sequence data of the ITS and TUB gene regions, and phylogenetic analysis of the sequences, the isolates were identified as Cytospora pruinosa Défago. To determine pathogenicity, pathogenicity tests were conducted on detached olive branches and two-year-old olive trees in the greenhouse. This is
the first report of C. pruinosa causing olive branch and fruit dieback in Croatia.
... Interestingly, since the OQDS outbreak occurred, other decline syndromes of olive trees characterized by a general dieback, canker and death of branches and twig wilting were reported in Italy (including Apulia) and other parts of the world. These were associated with a mycobiota in which some fungal taxa played major roles-Botryosphaeriaceae, Pleurostomophora richardsiae, Phaeoacremonium spp., Cytospora spp., Phaeomoniellales, Arthrinium marii, Neofabraea kienholzii, and Phlyctema vagabunda [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. ...
... After running a preliminary sampling, we isolated some botryosphaeriaceous fungi. One of these was identified as Neofusicoccum mediterraneum Crous, M.J. Wingf., and A.J.L. Phillips, a fungal species previously reported in California and Spain as the causal agent of severe Branch and Twig Dieback (BTD) of olive trees [9,11,13]. Indeed, the pathogenicity trials performed with the Apulian isolate clearly showed the high aggressiveness of this species and its capacity to reproduce the observed symptomatology, confirming what had been previously reported for this species [11,13,22]. ...
... One of these was identified as Neofusicoccum mediterraneum Crous, M.J. Wingf., and A.J.L. Phillips, a fungal species previously reported in California and Spain as the causal agent of severe Branch and Twig Dieback (BTD) of olive trees [9,11,13]. Indeed, the pathogenicity trials performed with the Apulian isolate clearly showed the high aggressiveness of this species and its capacity to reproduce the observed symptomatology, confirming what had been previously reported for this species [11,13,22]. ...
For about a decade, olive groves in Apulia (Southern Italy) have been progressively destroyed
by Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS), a disease caused by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa
subsp. pauca (Xfp). Recently, we described an additional wilting syndrome affecting olive trees in that
area. The botryosphaeriaceous fungus Neofusicoccum mediterraneum was found associated with the diseased
trees, and its high virulence toward olive trees was demonstrated. Given the common features
with Branch and Twig Dieback (BTD) of olive tree, occurring in Spain and California, we suggested
that the observed syndrome was BTD. During our first survey, we also found a botryosphaeriaceous
species other than N. mediterraneum. In the present article, we report the morphological and molecular
characterization of this fungal species which we identified as Neofusicoccum stellenboschiana. In the
study, we also included for comparison additional N. stellenboschiana isolates obtained from olive
trees in Latium and Tuscany region (Central Italy). The occurrence of N. stellenboschiana in olive trees
is reported here for the first time in the northern hemisphere. The pathogenicity and virulence were
tested in nine inoculation trials, where the Apulian N. stellenboschiana isolate was compared with the
isolate from Latium and with the Apulian isolate of N. mediterraneum. Both isolates of N. stellenboschiana
proved pathogenic to olive trees. They caused evident bark canker and wood discolouration
when inoculated at the base of the stem of two/three-year-old trees and on one-year-old twigs.
However, virulence of N. stellenboschiana was significantly lower, though still remarkable, compared
with N. mediterraneum in term of necrosis progression in the bark and the wood and capacity of
wilting the twigs. Virulence of N. stellenboschiana and N. mediterraneum did not substantially change
when inoculations were performed in spring/summer and in autumn, suggesting that these fungal
species have the potential to infect and damage olive trees in all seasons. The high thermotolerance
of N. stellenboschiana was also revealed with in vitro growth and survival tests. The high virulence of
these Botryosphaeriaceae species highlights their contribution in BTD aetiology and the necessity to
investigate right away their diffusion and, possibly, the role of additional factors other than Xfp in the
general decline of olive groves in Apulia. Hence the importance of assessing the degree of overlap of
BTD/Botryosphariaceae with OQDS/Xfp is discussed.
... After six months, the lesions' length that developed beneath the stem bark was measured. Re-isolating the pathogen from all inoculation plants and identifying it by conidial morphology confirmed Koch's hypotheses (Moral et al. 2017). extraction of genomic dnA and PCr amplification. ...
Neoscytalidium Dimidiatum isolates are the most pathogens associated with sooty canker and dieback in the stem and twigs of Eucalyptus and Chinaberry trees in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Young trees showed branch dieback and yellowing leaves. The symptoms were further developed to sooty canker and dieback appeared on the main branch and trunk. N. dimidiatum colonies on potato dextrose agar were dense white at first and became dark gray to black within seven to ten days. Arthric dark brown conidia (6.6x 4.3 µm) were observed in the chain of mycelium. The color of the colonies was white at the beginning, then eventually turned greenish in seven days, and finally became black. The fungus produced white to olivaceous aerial mycelium with chains of chlamydospores and arthroconidia. Conidia were initially hyaline, ellipsoidal to globose, 4.1-9.8 m × 2.8-3.5m, with muriform septa. The inoculated Eucalyptus and Chinaberry seedlings displayed necrosis streaks along with the barks and xylem of the inoculation points. Combined dataset of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), Nuclear Ribosomal Large Subunite (LSU), and Beta tublin 2a (Bt2a) using Maximum Likelihood and Maximum Parsimony analysis support the monophyletic on Neoscytalidium dimidiatum isolates from Iraq (N. hyalinum (No. B21), and Neoscytalidium novaehollandiae (No. B22)). This is the first time to report Neoscytalidium dimidiatum on Chinaberry in Iraq.
... For example, beyond the presence of desirable yeast taxa (i.e., Candida, Saccharomyces, etc.) that have proven contributor effects to both olives' sensorial formation, as well as to the insurance of an appropriate fermentation process, the presence of both Botryosphaeria and Geosmithia indicates a potential fungal distribution throughout the island that may correspond to olive tree disease. The former fungus is closely related to the so-called Dalmatian disease of the olive tree and is usually found throughout the Mediterranean basin (Moral et al., 2017), while the latter fungus is associated with many insect species that invade the phloem or sapwood of various plants/trees (Kolařík et al., 2007). Even if the role of both microorganisms during olive fermentation as well as in the final product is not well-documented, the present work constitutes the tip of the spear for further research on this aspect. ...
The knowledge about the microbial diversity of different olives varieties from diverse regions in the Mediterranean basin is limited. This work aimed to determine the microbial diversity of three different fermented olive varieties, collected from different regions in Cyprus, via Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis. Olives were spontaneously fermented for 120 days, microbial DNA was extracted from the final products, and subjected to 16S rRNA gene and ITS1 loci metabarcoding analysis for the determination of bacterial and fungal communities, respectively. Results revealed that the bacterial profile of the studied varieties was similar, while no noteworthy differences were observed in olives from different regions. The bacterial profile was dominated by the co-existence of Lactobacillus and Streptococcus , while the genera Lactococcus and Salinivibrio and the family Leuconostocaceae were also present in increased relative abundances. Regarding fungal communities, the analysis indicated discrimination among the different varieties, especially in Kalamata ones. The most abundant fungi were mainly the genera Aspergillus , Botryosphaeria , Meyerozyma , and Zygosaccharomyces for Cypriot olives, the genera Botryosphaeria , Saccharomyces , Geosmithia , and Wickeromyces for Kalamata variety, while the dominant fungi in the Picual variety were mainly members of the genera Candida , Penicillium , Saccharomyces , Hanseniospora and Botryosphaeria . Potential microbial biomarkers that distinguish the three varieties are also proposed. Moreover, interaction networks analysis identified interactions among the key taxa of the communities. Overall, the present work provides useful information and sheds light on an understudied field, such as the comparison of microbiota profiles of different varieties from several regions in Cyprus. The study enriches our knowledge and highlights the similarities and the main differences between those aspects, booming in parallel the need for further works on this frontier, in the attempt to determine potentially olives’ microbial terroir in Cyprus. Our work should be used as a benchmark for future works in this direction.
... Its relatives Cy. oleina, Cy. iistaciae and Cy. australe were linked to dieback of olive and pistachio, in Greece, Italy and Spain (Rumbos 1988;Carlucci et al., 2013;Moral et al., 2017;Aiello et al., 2019;López-Moral et al., 2020b). ...
... mutila, Dip. seriata, Do. iberica, L. theobromae, N. australe, N. stellenboschiana, N. luteum, N. mediterraneum, N. parvum and N. vitifusiforme) have been shown as causing olive twig and branch dieback in California, Croatia, Italy, Tunisia, South Africa and Spain (Moral et al., 2010(Moral et al., , 2017Carlucci et al., 2013;Kaliterna et al., 2013a;Úrbez-Torres et al., 2013b;Spies et al., 2020;van Dyk et al., 2021b). ...
... rubis, Dia. foeniculina) were associated with canker and twig and branch dieback diseases of olive trees in California, Greece, South Africa and Spain (Rumbos, 1988(Rumbos, , 1993Moral et al., 2017;Lawrence et. al., 2017;van Dyk et al., 2021b). ...
Production from crops of pome, stone fruit, nut, berry fruit, citrus, grapevine, and olive is increasingly threatened by fungal trunk diseases (FTD). These diseases and the consequent production losses are major problems. Many fungi (including Botryosphaeriaceae, Calosphaeriaceae, Diaporthaceae, Diatrypaceae, Nectriaceae, Phaeomoniellaceae, Pleosporaceae, Togniniaceae, Valsaceae) infect host wood, mainly through wounds and subsequent colonization of woody tissues, causing symptoms such as cankers, gummosis, wood rotting, blight and dieback. Propagative plant material, seedlings and fruit play a significant role in pathogen spread. Several abiotic factors (e.g. shifts in cultural practices and climate change) are involved in the disease development. This paper reviews recent literature on FTD of fruit crops, particularly focusing on the European status of pathogen occurrence. Case studies are described related to diseases of apple, citrus, grapevine, berry, nut and stone fruit, and olive trees. Aspects related to epidemiology and the increase in disease incidence along with the future perspectives on the FTD research are also discussed.
