Eutypella canker of maple: first report from Germany and situation in Austria

Abstract

Summary Eutypella canker of maple, caused by Eutypella parasitica (which is native to North America), is reported for the first time from Germany. From 2013 to 2015, this perennial canker disease was recorded on 105 maple trees in Munich. Six maple species were affected: Acer pseudoplatanus, A. campestre, A. platanoides, A. cappadocicum, A. heldreichii ssp. trautvetteri and A. hyrcanum. Occurrence on the latter three species represents new host records for E. parasitica. In Austria, Eutypella canker was newly discovered on two trees at a second locality in 2011, and it is now known to occur on seven A. pseudoplatanus trees at two localities, which are separated nearly 150 km. A. pseudoplatanus was the most frequent host of E. parasitica in Munich and Austria, which is in agreement with previous studies in Europe. The identity of the causative pathogen as E. parasitica was verified by ITS rDNA sequencing of fungal cultures obtained from cankers in Munich and at both Austrian localities. The presence of large and old cankers in both countries suggests that introduction of E. parasitica dates back a long time, probably several decades. The new records of Eutypella canker in Germany and Austria show that the disease is more widely distributed in central Europe than previously recognized.

Eutypella parasitica naturalised in Bohemian and Polish Silesia

“…() and Cech et al. (). The lengths of the necroses caused by the pathogen on the host trunks in the field varied between approximately 15 and 250 cm, but were highly variable.…”

“…The pathogen caused the characteristic disease symptoms described in Jurc et al (2006) and Cech et al (2016). The lengths of the necroses caused by the pathogen on the host trunks in the field varied between approximately 15 and 250 cm, but were highly variable.…”

“…The sequences of two Czech isolates of E. parastica, S56/15 and S57/15, were deposited in the NCBI database under accession numbers KX712296 and KX712297. Sequences showed 100% homology with E. parasitica accessions KJ433810-21(Cech et al, 2016) andKT952354-55 (Jurc et al, 2016) already present in GenBank.…”

“…trautvetteri (Medw.) E. Murray, on trees in urban environments and private gardens (Cech, Schwanda, Klosterhuber, Straβer, & Kirisits, ; Jurc, Ogris, Piškur, & Csóka, ). This article reports a new disease outbreak in an area relatively remote from other findings in Europe—in Bohemian and Polish Silesia.…”

“…Eastern Silesia is geographically isolated from other reported European E. parasitica locations. The closest known outbreak location in St. Veit, Austria (Cech et al, 2016) is approximately 260 km away; two other locations in Ledava, Hungary and Altmünster, Austria (Cech et al, 2016;Jurc et al, 2016) are nearly 400 km away. It is very likely that the common occurrence in Silesia was established by an independent introduction event.…”