IDENTIFICATION OF COLLETOTRICHUM ACUTATUM AND C. GLOEOSPORIOIDES ON STRAWBERRY IN EGYPT

Anthracnose of strawberry caused by Colletotrichum acutatum was recently recorded in Egypt in 2006, however, reliable molecular identification was not conducted at that time.
During 2007 and 2008, typical anthracnose symptoms were observed in various cultivars of field-grown strawberry in Qalubia and Ismailia governorates.
Lesions on necrotic petioles, stolons and fruit were sunken, and dark in color, containing salmon-colored masses of conidia, typical for C. acutatum. A culture (isolate #4) from the infected cultivar ‘Yael’ possessed hyaline conidia, cylindrical and attenuated at both ends.
Additional symptoms observed in wilted plants with necrotic roots and crowns resembled those for C. gloeosporioides. A culture (isolate #1) from roots of wilted cultivar ‘Tamar’ possessed hyaline conidia, oblong with obtuse ends.
Symptoms were reproduced by artificial inoculation of ‘Yael’ and ‘Tamar’ with the two isolates.
Species-specific PCR amplification was conducted on the two Colletotrichum isolates.
Identity of the pathogens was confirmed as C. gloeosporioides (isolate #1) resulting in a single amplified DNA fragment of 450 bp using primers ITS4 and CgInt, and C. acutatum (isolate #4) with an amplified product of 490 bp using primers ITS4 and CaInt2. Therefore, molecular identification confirmed the occurrence of both Colletotrichum acutatum and C. gloeosporioides on strawberry in Egypt.

XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC2010): International Symposium on Berries: From Genomics to Sustainable Production, Quality and Health

E.M. Embaby, M.E. Ragab, K.A. Dougdoug, R. Ahmed, A. Zveibil, M. Maymon, S. Freeman

anthracnose fruit rot (black spot), anthracnose crown rot, disease incidence, Fragaria × ananassa Duchesne, Koch postulates, PCR detection, species-specific primers

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.926.95