Diversity of genusLasiodiplodiaassociated with perennial tropical fruit plants in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Until now, only Lasiodiplodia theobromae has been reported in association with gummosis and dieback of cashew plants and other tropical fruit plants in northeastern Brazil. This study aims to identify and characterize species of Lasiodiplodia associated with gummosis and dieback on tropical fruit plants grown in Cear a, Para ıba, Pernambuco, Piau ı and Rio Grande do Norte States in northeastern Brazil with a description of two new species: Lasiodiplodia caatinguensis sp. nov. and Lasiodiplodia pontae sp. nov. Fungal identification was accomplished using a combination of morphophysiological and pathogenic characteristics, together with phylogenetic analyses based on partial translation elongation factor 1-a sequence (TEF1-a), internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and b-tubulin (b-tub). Six species of Lasiodiplodia were identified as being associated with several tropical fruit species: Lasiodiplodia brasiliense (Manilkara zapota, Mangifera indica and Spondias purpurea), L. caatinguensis sp. nov. (Anacardium occidentale, Citrus sinensis, S. purpurea and S. lutea), L. euphorbicola (Annona muricata and Cocos nucifera), L. pontae sp. nov. (A. occidentale and S. purpurea), L. pseudotheobromae (A. occidentale, S. purpurea and Tamarindus indica) and L. theobromae (A. occidentale, S. purpurea and Talisia esculenta). This is the first study to use molecular data of Lasiodiplodia taken from the stems and branches of Annona spp., A. occidentale, M. zapota, T. indica, T. esculenta and Spondias spp. After L. caatinguensis sp. nov., the species L. pseudotheobromae and L. theobromae were the second most frequent species. All identified species were able to cause necrotic lesions at different levels of severity when inoculated on mango fruits and young plants of Annona spp., cashew and Spondias spp.

Botryosphaeriaceae species causing dieback on Annonaceae in Brazil

“…Similarly, L. pseudotheobromae was the more virulent species on A. muricata , but could not be differentiated from the other species on atemoya. This may be attributable to a possible variation in levels of virulence between different isolates of the same species, as has already been observed for Macrophomina (Claudino & Soares, ); alternatively, each host may have responded differently to infection by each species, as was demonstrated by Coutinho et al () and Zlatković et al (). In future studies, these hypotheses could be verified by cross inoculation of the same isolates in these three hosts.…”

“…The other known species less frequently isolated were L. brasiliense , L. crassispora , L. hormozganensis , L. subglobosa and L. theobromae , which have already been reported in Brazil as being associated with several hosts (Netto et al , ,; Machado et al , ; Correia et al , ; Poletto et al , ; Rosado et al , ; Coutinho et al , ; Farr & Rossman, ). In the literature, it has been speculated that the wide range of hosts for L. theobromae exceeds 500 worldwide.…”

“…In Brazil, it was reported on cassava (Machado et al , ), coconut (Rosado et al , ), grapevine (Correia et al , ), mango (Marques et al , ), physic nut (Machado et al , ), papaya (Netto et al , ), Anacardium sp. (Coutinho et al , ; Netto et al , ), atemoya, Spondias purpurea and Tamarindus indica (Coutinho et al , ). In this study, L. pseudotheobromae was associated with A. squamosa , A. muricata and atemoya, and was found on the fruit of A. crassiflora as well as causing dieback on A. leptopetala , a native Annonaceae from the north of Minas Gerais.…”

Genetic diversity and population structure of Lasiodiplodia theobromae from different hosts in northeastern Brazil and Mexico

“…in fruit-producing orchards and under post-harvest conditions in northeastern Brazil showed that Lasiodiplodia theobromae (syn. Botryodiplodia theobromae) is present in all areas studied, being the most frequent species associated with dieback, gummosis, leaf spot, stem-end rot and fruit rot symptoms (Netto et al, 2014;Correia et al, 2016;Coutinho et al, 2017).…”

“…In recent years, fungal diseases affecting cashew, mango, papaya and grapevine crops have been reported in northeastern Brazil, with prevalence of infections caused by members of the family Botryosphaeriaceae (Netto et al, 2014;Correia et al, 2016;Coutinho et al, 2017). Botryosphaeriaceae species are important pathogens of native and non-native plants worldwide (Slippers & Wingfield, 2007;Phillips et al, 2013).…”