Quambalaria eucalypti a pathogen of Eucalyptus globulus newly reported in Portugal and in Europe

Abstract

Summary The Eucalyptus pathogen Quambalaria eucalypti has been reported from several subtropical and tropical countries of the Southern Hemisphere. During the course of a nationwide monitoring programme aimed at the detection of pathogens in commercial eucalypt plantations in Portugal, Q. eucalypti was found affecting Eucalyptus globulus. The identity of the pathogen was confirmed by sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA operon, as well as morphological characteristics. Quambalaria eucalypti is widespread throughout the eucalypt‐producing areas of Portugal. Pathogenicity studies revealed that different host genotypes showed various degrees of susceptibility to the pathogen. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Q. eucalypti on Eucalyptus spp. in Portugal and in the Northern Hemisphere.

Quambalaria species associated with eucalypt diseases in southern China

“…Outside Australia, this fungus was first reported on Eucalyptus in nurseries in South Africa [20] and it was later found in Brazil [37] and Portugal [27] where it causes leaf spots, shoot infections and lesions on seedling stems. Q. eucalypti has also been recorded in Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil [38] , South Africa [30] , Australia [24] and Portugal [27] where it can result in severe shoot and leaf blight and stem cankers [24,27,30] . Other than on Eucalyptus, Q. eucalypti has been isolated from leaf lesions on native M. glaucescens trees in Uruguay [28] and Corymbia species in Australia [24] .…”

“…Roux et al [30] Q. eucalypti CBS118616 = CMW17771 DQ317613 N/A E. grandis clone Kwambonambi, South Africa J Roux Roux et al [30] Q. eucalypti UY1036 EU439922 N/A Myrceugenia glaucescens Uruguay C. A. Pérez Pérez et al [28] Front. [28] Q. eucalypti PE3/MEAN 996 JX297605 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE6/MEAN 997 JX297603 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE27/MEAN 998 JX297604 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE28/MEAN 999 JX297600 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE29/MEAN 1000 JX297602 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE30/MEAN 1001 JX297601 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE52/MEAN 1002 JX297606 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE53/MEAN 1003 JX297598 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE54/MEAN 1004 JX297599 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE93/MEAN 1006 KR336802 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE96/MEAN 1009 KR336803 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE151/MEAN 1012 KR336804 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE152/MEAN 1013 KR336805 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE153/MEAN 1014 KR336806 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti PE154/MEAN 1015 KR336807 N/A E. globulus Portugal N/A Braganca et al [27] Q. eucalypti BRIP48367 EF444823 N/A C. torelliana  C. citriodora subsp. variegata…”

“…Six species of Quambalaria occur on eucalypts. They include Q. coyrecup, Q. cyanescens, Q. eucalypti, Q. pitereka, Q. pusilla and Q. simpsonii and all appear to be native to Australia where their host trees also occur naturally [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] . Quambalaria eucalypti has also been found on native Myrceugenia glaucescens (Myrtaceae) trees in Uruguay, although it seems likely to have been introduced into that country [28] .…”

First report of Quambalaria eucalypti in young Eucalyptus plants in field conditions in Brazil

“…This disease, which is associated with Eucalyptus and Corymbia plantations, has been reported in several subtropical and tropical countries of the Southern and Northern Hemisphere, causing a significant impact on forest productivity. Several studies report Quambalaria species causing disease in nursery and field conditions in these genera in western Australia (Pegg et al, 2008), in plantations in China (Chen et al, 2017; Zhou, de Beer, Xie, Pegg, & Wingfield, 2007), in South Africa (Roux et al., 2006), in Thailand (Simpson, 2000) and more recently in Portugal (Bragança et al., 2016). However, only in Brazil the pathogen is restricted to nurseries.…”

Ambrosiodmus rubricollis (Eichhoff) (Coleoptera; Curculionidae; Scolytinae) associated with young Tasmanian blue gum trees

“…Shifting of native insects onto eucalypts has occurred mainly in Africa, Asia and South America, with pests that have native Myrtaceae as natural hosts or are highly polyphagous (Paine et al, ). In fact, diverse and abundant eucalypts can represent an abundant resource for opportunistic polyphagous insects and fungal pathogens (Bragança et al, ), considering their diversity and abundance. In this manuscript, we report on a new association between a polyphagous ambrosia insect and a eucalypt species, with an unusual attack of an alien beetle on E. globulus outside the native range of both species.…”