Elsinoe fawcettii and E. australis are two currently recognized scab pathogens of citrus. E. fawcettii has at least six pathotypes while E. australis has at least two pathotypes. Colonies of E. fawcettii and E. australis do not sporulate in artificial media including potato dextrose agar (PDA). Whiteside's method has been widely used for preparing conidial inoculum in vitro. This study was carried out to develop efficient method for conidia production from artificial media. We developed a shaking method which included the following steps: 1) Colony grown on PDA was mashed with a steel spatula; 2) Mycelia fragments were cultured in 50 ml sterilized rain water in a rotary shaker-incubator (180 rpm) at 25ºC for 24 h: 3) The conidia suspension was filtered through two layers of cheesecloth. Average conidia production of all isolates tested using this shaking method was approximately 13.1 times higher than that from Whiteside's method in this study.

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Citrus scab disease is one of the destructive diseases that reduce the value of fruit for the fresh market. We analyzed the process of symptom development after infection with scab pathogen Elsinoë fawcettii in the susceptible satsuma mandarin leaves to observe the structural modification against pathogen. The cuticle and epidermal cells along with 3–5 layers of mesophyll tissue were degraded 1–2 days post inoculation. Surrounding peripheral cells of degraded tissues grew rapidly and then enveloped the necrotic area along with the growing conidia. Cross sections through the lesion revealed hyphal colonization in epidermis and mesophyll tissues. In response to the pathogen colonization, host cell walls were lignified, inner cells were rapidly compartmentalized and a semi-circular boundary was formed that separated the infected region from the non-infected region, and finally prevented the intercellular pathogen spread.

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Citrus scab, caused by the fungal pathogen Elsinoë fawcettii , is one of the most important fungal diseases affecting Citrus spp. Citrus scab affects young tissues, including the leaves, twigs, and fruits, and produces severe fruit blemishes that reduce the market value of fresh fruits. To study the molecular responses of satsuma mandarin ( C. unshiu ) to E. fawcettii , plant hormone-related gene expression was analyzed in response to host-compatible (SM16-1) and host-incompatible (DAR70024) isolates. In the early phase of infection by E. fawcettii , jasmonic acid- and salicylic acid-related gene expression was induced in response to infection with the compatible isolate. However, as symptoms advanced during the late phase of the infection, the jasmonic acid- and salicylic acid-related gene expression was downregulated. The gene expression patterns were compared between compatible and incompatible interactions. As scabs were accompanied by altered tissue growth surrounding the infection site, we conducted gibberellic acid- and abscisic acid-related gene expression analysis and assessed the content of these acids during scab symptom development. Our results showed that gibberellic and abscisic acid-related gene expression and hormonal changes were reduced and induced in response to the infection, respectively. Accordingly, we propose that jasmonic and salicylic acids play a role in the early response to citrus scab, whereas gibberellic and abscisic acids participate in symptom development.

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